Midsummer 


\ 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OP 
CALIFORNIA       J 

LIFR. 


MIDSUMMER 
A  STORY  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO   •   DALLAS 
ATLANTA    •   SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OP  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


"THAT  IS  NORE  CARLSON,  JUST  A  FISHER  BOY.' 


EDUC.- 
PSYCH, 
UBRAftY 


MIDSUMMER 

A  Story  for  Boys  and  Girls 


BY 

KATHARINE  ADAMS 
AUTHOR  OF  "MEHITABLE,"  ETC. 


J?eto  gorfe 
THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1921 

All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


memo* 


COPYRIGHT,  1921 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.      Published  November,  1921 


FERRIS  PRINTING  COMPANY 


LJL&-, 


FOR 

EUGENIA  PALMER 

JANE  EDWARD 

MARY  FELL  AND  FRANCIS 

ANNE  ARTHUR 

JULIA  LYNN 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  On  the  Rocks  -                i 

II.  Axel's  Invitation  -               13 

III.  "En  Socker  Bagere"  -  26 

IV.  Making  Friends  37 
V.  The  Name's  Day  -              49 

VI.  Hjalmar's  Story  72 

VII.  On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful     -  85 

VIII.  Sun  and  Shadow  97 

IX.  Midsummer  Night     -  116 

X.  Eugene  128 

XI.  By  the  Palace  Steps   -  -            -             138 

XII.  The  Dejeuner  147 

XIII.  On  the  Balcony  -             157 

XIV.  Boo    -  172 

XV.  In  the  Tower  -            -             189 

XVI.  Sorrow  -            -            198 

XVII.  About  Rudolph  206 

XVIII.  Anticipation  -            217 

XIX.  The  Castle  Opens  It's  Doors  -            225 

XX.  Nore  -            -            236 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

"That  is  Nore  Carlson,  just  a  fisher  boy"  .  .  .  .Frontispiece 

"The  Castle  is  so  big  and  gloomy,"  said  Audrey 8 

The  stately  palace  gleamed  in  the  sunlight,  across 

the  bridge 102 

Astrid  had  never  seen  a  street  like  this  before 129 


MIDSUMMER 
A  STORY  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


CHAPTER  i 

On  the  Rocks 

UWE  are  to  meet  them  on  the  rocks,  old  Hjalmar 
from  the  castle  is  to  row  them  over.  Isn't  it  splen- 
did to  think  they  are  really  here!" 

Valfried  Zander  tossed  her  gold  braid  of  hair 
over  her  shoulder  as  she  helped  her  little  sister 
Astrid  to  climb  into  the  green,  freshly  painted  boat, 
then  she  called.  "Jacken  come."  A  fat  black  and 
brown  dachshund  waddled  slowly  across  the  shiny 
beach  and  as  slowly  scrambled  over  the  edge  of  the 
rowboat,  settling  himself  comfortably  under  the  first 
seat. 

Bjorn,  her  brother,  gave  a  shove  with  his  hand 
on  the  hot  beach,  as  he  jumped  into  the  boat.  He 
had  been  fishing  and  his  plump  good-natured  face 
was  very  red.  He  took  the  oars  and  the  boat  glided 
out  onto  the  grey  green  water.  There  were  splashes 
of  color  everywhere,  purple  and  gold  streaks  on  the 
bay,  the  sky  too  was  purple  with  strange  flashes  of 
green  and  scarlet,  for  it  was  evening  in  Sweden  and 
it  was  almost  midsummer  time. 

Valfried  seated  herself  in  the  stern  of  the  boat, 


2  Midsummer 

fanning  herself  with  her  wide  straw  hat.  Her  blue 
cotton  frock  was  splashed  with  seaweed.  Little 
Astrid  left  her  seat  and  came  and  sat  next  her  sister. 
She  had  a  doll  under  her  arm,  a  doll  dressed  in  a 
red  skirt,  white  bodice  and  tall  black  velvet  cap; 
her  cousin  Signa  Thorm  had  brought  it  to  her 
when  she  had  come  from  Dalarne,  to  see  them  at 
Christmas. 

Bjorn  frowned  at  Astrid.  "How  many  times  have 
I  told  you  not  to  change  your  seat  when  the  boat  is 
on  the  bay!"  He  spoke  in  a  cross  sort  of  way. 
Bjorn  was  sixteen  and  he  felt  that  he  should  keep 
his  sister  in  order,  especially  Astrid  who  did  not  mind 
his  scoldings  in  the  least. 

"The  new  girl  will  like  my  doll,  I  know  she  will. 
I  don't  think  she's  ever  seen  one  as  nice,  do  you,  sis- 
ter?" Before  Valfried  could  answer  she  said  to  her 
brother:  "Oh  Bjorn,  mother  told  you  to  put  on  a 
clean  collar  and  you  forgot." 

"We've  so  hoped  that  the  Count  Essen's  grand- 
children would  come  from  America  and  now  they're 
really  here,  in  a  few  minutes  we  shall  see  them  and 
soon  we  shall  know  them  well.  Audrey,  what  an 
odd  name  the  girl  has,  it's  not  at  all  Swedish;  but 
the  boy's  name  is  sensible,  it  is  Sven,"  said  Valfried, 
putting  her  arm  around  Astrid. 

"The  girl  is  like  her  name,  she's  not  a  bit  Swed- 
ish," answered  Bjorn,  lifting  his  oar  and  watching 
the  drops  that  fell  from  it,  turn  to  azure  and  gold 


On  the  Rocks  3 

in  the  brilliant  light.  "Our  Karl  saw  her  this  morn- 
ing when  he  took  the  milk,  he  says  she  has  dark  eyes 
and  hair  and  that  she  looks  quite  unlike  of  any  us. 
He  didn't  see  her  to  speak  to,  but  the  boy  walked 
down  the  path  with  him.  He  told  him  they  felt  a 
bit  lonely  and  were  looking  forward  to  knowing  us, 
the  boy's  all  right  Karl  says,  he  spoke  a  little  Swed- 
ish. It  must  have  been  funny  Swedish  for  Karl 
didn't  understand  much  that  he  said." 

"Karl  is  rather  stupid.  Oh  isn't  that  just  like  a 
boy.  Why  didn't  you  tell  us  before  that  he  had 
seen  them?  I  should  have  told  you  right  away." 

"Here's  the  Gustafsburg  boat,  we'll  have  to  hurry 
unless  you  want  to  take  the  waves,"  called  Bjorn  as 
suddenly  from  around  a  huge  pile  of  rocks  at  the 
end  of  the  bay,  appeared  a  large  white  steamer.  The 
rocks  were  grey  and  mysterious,  rising  out  of  the 
clear  rainbow  tinted  water,  the  fjords  were  deep  but 
so  narrow,  guarded  as  they  were  by  the  great  piles 
of  granite,  that  the  boats  glided  through  them  un- 
observed until  they  appeared  at  the  opening  of  the 
bay. 

"I  don't  want  to  take  the  waves,  Bjorn,"  whim- 
pered Astrid,  holding  her  doll  tightly. 

"You're  not  a  coward  I  hope,  all  your  ancestors 
have  been  in  the  navy  and  one  of  them  saved  seven 
lives  in  a  wreck,"  said  Bjorn.  However  he  good  nat- 
uredly  pulled  hard  at  the  oars.  It  was  too  late  for 
the  steamer  was  close  on  them  and  so  in  spite  of 


4  Midsummer 

Astrid,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  turn  the  boat  so 
that  its  brow  met  the  waves  squarely.  The  next 
moment  they  were  dipping  down,  down  into  the 
great  green  waves,  the  spray  sweeping  over  them. 

Valfried  laughed  with  delight  but  Astrid  held  her 
doll  very  tightly  and  cuddled  close  to  her  sister.  Peo- 
ple on  the  decks  waved  to  them,  and  soon  after  the 
boat  went  by,  the  waves  grew  calmer  and  they  were 
able  to  land. 

Bjorn  shoved  the  boat  well  up  on  the  sand  at  the 
foot  of  a  great  stretch  of  rocks,  then  he  lifted  Astrid 
out,  setting  her  on  a  ledge  just  above  him.  Valfried 
had  jumped  quickly  out  and  by  the  time  the  others 
reached  her,  was  waving  towards  a  rowboat  which 
appeared  as  suddenly  from  behind  the  rocks,  as  the 
steamer  had  done.  An  old  man  was  rowing  a  boat 
in  which  were  the  two  new  comers,  a  boy  and  a  girl. 
As  soon  as  they  had  landed  he  rowed  quickly  away, 
disappearing  behind  the  rocks. 

Bjorn  went  half  way  down  to  meet  them  but  Val- 
fried, suddenly  shy,  sat  at  the  top  and  tried  not  to 
appear  as  excited  as  she  felt,  when  they  came  up  to 
her.  She  stood  up  and  gave  the  girl  her  hand,  pull- 
ing hard  so  as  to  help  her  over  the  last  boulder. 

"You're  Sven  and  Audrey,  aren't  you?  We're  so 
glad  you've  come,"  she  said,  pulling  her  sister  around 
in  front  of  her,  for  Astrid  too,  had  felt  shy  and  this 
was  very  unusual  indeed. 

The  girl  spoke  first;  she  had  short  dark  hair  which 


On  the  Rocks  5 

flapped  about  her  face  and  she  wore  a  dark  sailor 
suit. 

"Yes,  we  came  last  night.  We've  heard  of  you 
from  Tante  Greta  and  I  guess  we'll  be  great  friends." 
She  smiled  at  the  three  of  them  and  so  did  Sven.  |His 
hair  was  not  as  dark  as  his  sister's  and  he  had  blue 
eyes. 

"It's  great  fun  being  here,  it's  dandy.  I'm  mighty 
glad  we're  going  to  get  acquainted,"  said  Sven,  as 
they  all  sat  down  on  the  rocks. 

"We  can  have  much  fun  out  here  on  the  rocks, 
and  in  the  water.  Do  you  swim?"  asked  Bjorn. 

"Oh,  yes,  we  go  to  the  seashore  every  summer 
with  granny,  but  it's  all  so  different  from  this,  hun- 
dreds of  people  on  the  beach;  you  don't  know  how 
different  it  is,"  answered  the  girl  before  her  brother 
could  speak.  She  opened  a  basket  and  brought  out 
an  elaborate  cake  covered  with  sugar  and  nuts,  a 
flask  of  milk  and  five  white  enamel  cups. 

"Tante  Greta  asked  if  we  wanted  coffee  and  I  said 
we  never  drank  it,  so  she  gave  me  the  milk  to  have 
with  this  wonderful  cake.  She  says  a  woman  makes 
them  who  lives  in  a  place  called  Boo,  near  here — 
such  a  funny  name — Boo." 

Audrey  Bradford  threw  back  her  head  and 
laughed  and  the  others  laughed  too. 

"It's  a  funny  little  village  an  hour's  sail  from 
here,  it's  the  nearest  village  to  the  castle.  Your 
aunt  means  old  Fru  Wallman.  This  is  good 


6  Midsummer 

isn't  it!"  exclaimed  Valfried.  Audrey  poured  out 
the  milk  and  Sven  passed  around  the  cake  which 
Audrey  had  cut  into  ample  slices. 

"Don't  you  like  coffee?"  asked  little  Astrid;  she 
had  been  looking  steadily  at  Audrey  ever  since  she 
sat  down  beside  her  on  the  rock. 

Audrey  smiled  at  her.  "Not  much,  do  you?  Oh 
will  you  let  me  see  your  doll?"  She  held  it  up  ad- 
miringly. 

"She's  dressed  like  a  Dalacarnian  peasant;  we 
have  cousins  who  live  where  they  all  dress  that  way," 
explained  Valfried.  "Astrid  and  I  went  to  visit  them 
once;  we  all  went  to  church  in  a  boat  and  rowed 
across  the  bay  in  the  longest  boat  you  ever  saw." 

"It  was  most  a  mile  long,"  put  in  Astrid. 

"Nonsense,  Astrid,  it  was  nothing  of  the  kind,  but 
it  held  about  twenty  people." 

"We  must  go  there,  Sven.  Oh  I  want  to  see  every- 
thing, I  want  to  see  all  the  world." 

The  Zander  children  looked  at  her  with  great  in- 
terest, she  was  so  different  from  them. 

"Tante  Greta  seems  so  quiet  and  sad,  poor  dear, 
and  the  castle  is  so  big  and  gloomy.  Sven  and  I  were 
homesick  last  night,  weren't  we,  Sven?" 

Sven  nodded.  "It  was  sort  of  funny,  so  different 
from  New  York;  we'd  just  arrived,  and,  well,  grand- 
father and  Tante  Greta  aren't  like  father." 

"They  almost  never  leave  the  castle.  Mother  asks 
your  aunt  to  come  for  coffee  but  she  never  does. 


On  the  Rocks  7 

Mother's  been  to  have  coffee  with  her,  she  was 
asked  to  come  the  last  time,  when  the  letter  had 
arrived  saying  you  and  Sven  were  coming,"  said  Val- 
fried  who  had  always  very  much  wanted  to  see  inside 
the  castle  and  had  begged  her  mother  in  vain  to 
take  her  when  she  went  to  see  Froken  Essen,  the 
children's  aunt. 

"It's  going  to  be  splendid  now  that  we  know  you," 
Audrey  went  on.  "Isn't  it  strange  to  think  of  all 
the  things  we've  seen  that  you've  never  seen  and  all 
the  things  you've  seen  that  we  don't  know  anything 
about!" 

"I  don't  believe  they've  ever  heard  of  Coney 
Island;  think  what  they've  missed,"  remarked  Sven 
with  a  laugh,  as  they  gathered  together  the  remains 
of  the  cake  and  the  cups.  Sven  was  already  begin- 
ning to  feel  better,  it  was  so  jolly,  meeting  these  new 
friends. 

"Yes,  I've  read  about  Coney  Island,  I'm  going  to 
see  it  some  day.  I'm  going  to  be  in  the  navy  and  so 
I'll  travel  around  everywhere,"  answered  Bjorn. 

Audrey  looked  at  the  silver  flagon  which  she  held 
in  her  hands;  it  had  the  Essen  coat  of  arms  embossed 
on  one  side,  two  swords  crossed.  She  gazed  at  it 
curiously  for  a  moment,  shaking  the  dark  hair  out 
of  her  eyes. 

"This  is  mother's  country,  our  mother  whom  we 
cannot  remember.  You  must  tell  us,  oh,  so  many 
things.  You  see  father  was  only  just  one  month  in 
Sweden  years  ago  when  he  first  met  mother.  Path- 


8  Midsummer 

er's  so  American,  he  says  he  only  remembers  Sweden 
because  it  was  where  he  met  mother.  He  was  in 
Stockholm  all  the  time,  he  only  came  out  to  the 
Castle  On  The  Rocks  to  be  married." 

Audrey  spoke  in  a  quick,  impulsive  sort  of  way  but 
the  Zanders  seemed  to  understand  her. 

"You  know  English  pretty  well,  don't  you?"  said 
Sven  to  Valfried,  as  Audrey  finished  speaking. 

"Well,  we  had  an  English  governess  for  five 
years,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  speak  and  understand 
it.  Don't  you  two  speak  Swedish  at  all?" 

"Not  much,  just  a  few  words,"  answered  Sven,  as 
though  he  were  ashamed  of  the  fact. 

"We're  going  to  learn,  old  Hjalmar  has  prom- 
ised to  teach  me,  I  asked  him.  I  like  Hjalmar,  he's 
so  sort  of,  Oh  like  an  old  servant  in  a  story  book, 
he's  so  different  from  any  one  at  home,"  Audrey 
laughed  as  she  spoke,  putting  her  arm  around  Astrid 
who  snuggled  up  to  her. 

"I  love  you,"  announced  Astrid,  "I'm  going  to  tell 
you  all  my  secrets,  you're  nicer  than  Valfried,"  she 
went  on.  "She's  always  talking  things  to  Irigeborg 
Wicander  and  telling  me  to  run  along  and  not 
bother." 

They  all  laughed,  except  Valfried  who  did  not 
seem  any  too  well  pleased. 

"I  know  we're  going  to  have  some  dandy  times, 
all  of  us  together,"  said  Sven,  "I  think  it's  jolly 
here." 


"THE  CASTLE  IS  SO  BIG  AND  GLOOMY,"  SAID  AUDREY. 


On  the  Rocks  9 

"It's  like  a  dream,"  answered  Audrey,  looking  off 
at  the  flashes  of  green  in  the  northern  sky. 

"Sweden  isn't  a  dream,"  exclaimed  little  Astrid 
indignantly.  "It's  the  very  best  country  in  the  world.  ' 
They  all  laughed  merrily  at  this,  and  Sven  patted 
Astrid's  arm. 

"I  think  it's  a  tip  top  country,  Astrid,"  he  said. 

"We'll  swim  and  row  and  have  picnics,"  Valfried 
smiled  at  Audrey  as  she  spoke. 

Bjorn  and  Sven  started  down  the  rocks  to  look  for 
Bjorn's  fishing  rods  which  he  kept  in  a  cave-like  place 
in  the  side  of  the  rocks,  with  some  other  treasures. 
The  girls  began  at  once  to  get  better  acquainted. 
Valfried  forgot  to  be  shy  and  seeing  that  Audrey 
was  interested,  told  her  of  school  in  Stockholm  in 
the  winter,  of  the  dancing  class  that  met  every  Sat- 
urday night,  at  the  home  of  different  playmates, 
where  they  learned  to  dance  their  national  dances 
and  wore  the  dresses  of  the  different  provinces.  "Oh 
the  dances  are  such  fun,  Audrey,  I  know  you'd  love 
them;  perhaps  we  can  go  up  to  Stockholm  while 
you're  here  and  go  out  to  Skansen  and  see  the  peas- 
ants dance." 

"They  have  chocolate  with  whipped  cream  on  top 
and  cakes  too,  when  the  dancing  class  meets  at  our 
house.  Mother  lets  me  stay  up  till  the  cakes  are 
passed  around,"  said  Astrid. 

Some  hungry  seagulls  flapped  their  wings  nearby 
and  she  took  the  last  of  her  piece  of  cake  to  share 


io  Midsummer 

with  them,  climbing  down  the  rocks  as  fast  as  her 
fat  legs  would  take  her. 

The  boys  called  to  them  to  come  down  and  Val- 
fried  called  back:  "In  a  few  minutes,  it's  early  yet." 
Then  she  said,  turning  to  Audrey,  "It's  wonderful  to 
think  you've  really  come ;  I've  thought  about  it  for  so 
long  and  have  wondered  about  you." 

Audrey  nodded.  "I'm  glad  we've  come.  Last 
night  I  was  homesick  and  after  I'd  gone  to  bed  I 
thought  of  the  hotel  where  we  live,  in  New  York,  of 
the  busses  on  Fifth  Avenue  and  of  the  colored  boy,  at 
the  hotel,  the  elevator  boy  who  used  to  sing  hymns 
for  us,  of  soda  water  and  even  chewing  gum  though 
I  don't  like  it  very  well.  Such  funny  things  came 
into  my  mind,  I  mean  things  I  never  would  have 
thought  I'd  miss."  She  looked  off  towards  the  castle, 
towering  high  above  them,  on  the  great  rocks.  "The 
castle  must  be  the  most  dismal  place  in  the  world 
in  winter,  it's  dismal  anyway.  Do  you  know,  Val- 
fried,  I'll  love  everything  here,  except  the  castle,  but 
whenever  I  think  of  it,  I'm  sad." 

Valfried  was  silent  for  a  minute,  she  hesitated 
before  she  answered,  "Your  grandfather  is  a  very 
sad  old  man,  or  so  the  people  say;  he  hasn't  talked 
to  any  one  for  years,  I  mean,  anyone  outside  the 
castle." 

Audrey  nodded.  "They're  both  sad,  Aunt  Greta 
hasn't  smiled  once  since  we  came,'  yet  she  is  so  gentle 


On  the  Rocks  1 1 

and  kind.  There's  a  mystery — oh,  Valfried,  do  you 
suppose  there  is  one,  wouldn't  it  be — well — sort  of 
interesting  if  there  should  be  a  mystery?  Anyway, 
the  castle  isn't  a  happy  place  at  all." 

The  boys  called  again  and  they  both  stood  up. 
Valfried  wound  her  fair  hair  around  her  head  as 
they  stood  for  a  moment,  looking  off  at  the  gorgeous 
scarlet  and  purple  of  the  sea  and  sky. 

The  two  girls  looked  at  each  other  after  a  min- 
ute, they  smiled  at  each  other,  happy  in  their  new- 
found friendship.  Audrey  had  brown  eyes,  with 
black  specks  in  them.  "Pepper  and  salt  eyes,"  Sven 
called  them.  Her  black  bobbed  hair  stood  out  each 
side  of  her  tanned  little  face,  she  wore  a  dark  blue 
Peter  Thompson  suit  and  Valfried  in  her  pale  blue 
cotton  frock,  with  her  light  hair,  looked  very  fair 
beside  her. 

There  was  a  sound  of  water  splashing  and  both 
girls  looked  down  quickly.  A  boat  glided  around 
the  bend  in  the  rocks  and  slowly  passed  by  them.  In 
the  boat  stood  a  boy,  paddling  with  an  oar;  he  wore 
rough  dark  trousers  and  a  white  shirt,  which  was 
open  at  the  throat,  showing  his  brown  neck  and 
chest.  The  afterglow  of  the  sun  fell  full  upon  him, 
the  water  around  the  boat  was  bronze  and  gold  and 
the  boy's  hair  shone  like  gold  in  the  dazzling  light. 
He  held  his  head  slightly  back  and  as  he  passed  the 
girls,  he  saw  them,  where  they  stood,  high  on  the 
rocks.  He  smiled  a  little  shyly  at  Valfried  and 


12  Midsummer 

slightly  nodded  his  head  and  the  boat  glided  on, 
down  the  bay. 

Audrey  turned  and  put  her  hand  on  Valfried's 
arm.  "Who  is  that?"  she  asked.  Valfried  looked 
at  her  a  little  curiously,  for  she  seemed  startled. 

"Why  that  is  Nore  Carlson,  just  a  fisher  boy  who 
lives  across  the  bay.  He  taught  Bjorn  to  fish  and 
sail,  he's  just  his  age,  fifteen." 

Audrey  stood  quite  still  near  the  edge  of  the  rock 
and  watched  the  vanishing  boat,  a  black  spot  in  the 
rainbow  water. 

UA  fisher  boy,"  she  said  half  to  herself.  "I  don't 
know  why,  but  I  want  that  boy  to  be  my  friend." 


CHAPTER  2 

Axel's  Invitation 

"CALL  the  children,  Nore,  supper's  ready." 

"Yes,  mother."  Nore  shouted  across  the  sun- 
drenched beach: 

"Thure,  Marta,  Karl,  come!" 

There  was  a  faint  answering  shout,  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  several  little  figures,  dark  against  the  pur- 
ple and  scarlet  of  the  sea  and  sky,  came  running 
towards  their  brother.  Nore  stood  waiting  for 
them,  tossing  his  cap  high  in  the  air  and  catching  it. 
He  was  tall  for  his  fifteen  years,  slightly  built  but 
strong  enough.  When  his  sister  Thure  ran  up  to 
him,  he  caught  her  in  his  arms,  swung  her  to  his 
shoulder,  and  ran  with  her  into  the  little  low-roofed 
cottage  which  was  their  home. 

The  tiny  house  was  set  in  the  midst  of  a  heaped 
up  pile  of  rocks,  stones  and  seaweed.  The  other 
children  ran  laughingly  after  Nore,  up  the  wooden 
steps  and  into  the  living  room.  Their  mother  looked 
up  at  them  as  she  set  a  plate  of  freshly  fried  fish  on 
the  table. 

13 


14  Midsummer 

"Wash  your  hands  quickly  for  supper,  children; 
you  must  have  been  playing  for  over  an  hour  on 
the  beach,"  she  said. 

"Oh  mother,  we  found  a  star  fish.  Oh  mother,  I'm 
so  hungry,"  called  little  Thure,  as  Nore  set  her 
down  from  his  shoulder.  Marta,  a  girl  of  thirteen, 
caught  her  hand  and  they  ran  on  out  through  the 
door  at  the  back,  leading  from  a  tiny  bedroom,  to 
the  bright  green  pump  which  stood  at  one  side  of 
the  cottage. 

They  danced  about,  a  moment,  in  the  fresh  bril- 
liant air,  before  they  pushed  the  creaking  handle, 
up  and  down,  and  washed  their  hands  and  faces  for 
supper. 

When  they  were  all  seated  at  the  table  and  had 
been  plentifully  helped  to  the  fish  and  potatoes  and 
hard  grey  Swedish  bread,  their  mother,  smiling  first 
at  Nore  and  then  at  the  others,  said: 

"Old  Hjalmar  from  the  castle  was  here,  while  you 
were  out,  all  of  you,  to-day.  He  had  news!" 

"May  we  each  have  three  guesses,  mother?" 
asked  Marta — "I  guess  then,  it  was  some  surprise 
for  Thure's  Name  Day,  old  Hjalmar  always  has  a 
surprise  for  her." 

"I  guess  that  it's  something  to  do  with  the  mid- 
Summer  dance,  on  the  green  at  Boo,  next  week,"  said 
twelve  year  old  Karl. 

The  mother  turned  towards  the  eldest  boy.  "What 
do  you  guess,  Nore?"  she  asked. 


Axel's  Invitation  15 

Nore  smiled  at  her  as  he  passed  her  the  bread. 
"My  guess  is  that  the  Fairy  Princess  has  come,"  he 
said. 

The  mother  nodded.     "Nore  is  right,"  she  said. 

"It  was  hardly  a  guess,  mother,  because  I  saw  her; 
she  was  standing  on  the  rocks  with  Froken  Valfried 
Zander  when  I  went  by  them  in  the  boat,  a  few 
minutes  ago." 

There  was  a  clamor  of  voices  as  the  children 
eagerly  questioned  him.  Fru  Carlson  looked  at  him 
as  eagerly  as  the  others,  though  she  said  nothing. 
She  was  a  sweet  faced  woman,  whose  light  hair  was 
brushed  straight  back  from  her  face.  Her  hands 
were  rough  and  work  worn  but  they  were  the  most 
loving  hands  in  the  world,  to  the  four  children  who 
sat  about  the  table. 

"I  only  saw  her  for  a  moment,"  said  Nore,  in 
answer  to  the  children's  questions.  "The  boy  wasn't 
there,  I  think  I  saw  him  with  Bjorn,  in  the  distance. 
The  girl  is  very  dark."  He  stood  up  and  carried  his 
plate  and  cup  over  to  the  sink,  as  he  spoke,  and  his 
mother's  eyes  followed  him. 

Marta  cleared  the  table  quietly  and  neatly  and 
put  before  her  mother  a  bowl  of  wild  strawberries. 
Nore  smiled  with  pleasure  when  he  saw  them. 

"Thure  and  I  picked  them  this  afternoon,  we 
played  in  the  woods  where  we  found  the  lingon*  in 
September,"  said  twelve  year  old  Karl. 

*  lingon — small  bright  red  berry,  tasting  like  cranberry. 


1 6  Midsummer 

Marta  and  Thurc  were  busy  talking  over  the  ar- 
rival of  the  children  at  the  castle,  as  they  washed  the 
dishes.  Marta  washed  and  little  Thure  dried  the 
dishes  very  nicely  with  some  clean  blue  and  white 
towels,  and  put  them  away  in  the  white  wood  cup- 
board, behind  the  door. 

"Come,  Nore,  help  put  the  dishes  away,  just  for 
fun,  and  go  on  with  the  story  about  the  lost  Viking 
ships — please,"  called  Marta  gaily,  as  she  put  a  ket- 
tle full  of  fresh  water  on  the  stove  to  heat,  so  that 
the  pretty  little  rose  china  saucers  which  they  had 
used  for  the  wild  strawberries  could  be  nicely 
washed. 

"Their  mother  sat  in  the  doorway,  her  hands  fold- 
ed in  her  lap;  she  turned  and  spoke  over  her  shoulder 
to  Marta: 

"Nore  didn't  hear  you,  he's  gone  off  down  the 
beach,  he's  had  a  long  day."  She  sighed  as  she 
spoke  and  as  she  looked  off  at  the  dancing  waters 
there  was  a  strange  expression  in  her  eyes.  It  was 
as  though  she  was  thinking  deeply,  as  though  she 
was  struggling  with  some  thought  that  she  could  not 
put  in  words. 

"Karl,"  she  said  a  little  sharply,  "fix  the  nets. 
Your  brother  needs  rest;  you  must  learn  to  do  more 
of  the  work  for  you  are  almost  twelve."  She  put  her 
hand  lovingly  on  the  boy's  shoulder  as  she  spoke  but 
she  looked  off  down  the  beach  at  the  slight  figure  of 
the  older  lad.  Karl  who  sat  on  the  rough  ground 


Axel's  Invitation  17 

close  to  his  mother,  stood  up  at  her  words,  and  start- 
ed to  go  around  the  corner  of  the  cottage.  He,  too, 
looked  off  at  his  brother. 

"Mother,"  he  asked,  "do  you  think  when  I'm  as 
old  as  Nore  that  I'll  be  as  straight  and  tall — and — 
and" — he  paused  a  minute — "as  different?" 

His  mother  smiled.  "No,  you  will  not  be  like 
Nore,  my  alskling,*  but  no  doubt  you  will  be  fine  and 
large  and  always  your  mother  will  love  you,"  she 
spoke  quite  merrily  and  hugged  little  Thure  who  had 
come  and  sat  down  in  her  lap,  the  dish  cloth  still 
in  her  hand. 

"Mama  lilla,  I  want  a  new  dress  for  Sophie,"  she 
coaxed,  patting  her  mother's  cheek,  and  holding  out 
her  very  forlorn  doll  for  her  mother  to  see.  "I 
want  to  play  that  she  is  invited  to  the  castle,  to  a  ball, 
and  she  could  not  go  like  this." 

Fru  Carlson  laughed  and  so  did  Marta  who  came 
and  sat  beside  her  mother,  on  the  step. 

"Oh  mother,  I  do  want  to  see  the  strange  chil- 
dren, just  think,  they've  come  all  the  way  from 
America."  Marta  put  her  chin  in  her  hand  and 
looked  off  at  the  great  grey  mass  of  granite,  across 
the  bay.  "It  can't  be  a  very  happy  place,  mother, 
not  for  a  girl."  She  put  her  arms  about  her  mother 
and  hugged  her.  "I'd  rather  be  here,  just  all  of  us 
together,  than  in  any  castle  anywhere!"  she  ex- 
claimed. 


alsklinfc — darling;. 


1 8  Midsummer 

Karl  came  around  the  corner,  his  arms  full  of  the 
slippery  nets.  He  went  slowly  down  the  rocks  and 
Marta  ran  to  help  him.  They  stretched  the  nets  to 
dry,  across  some  poles;  there  were  little  rolls  of 
birch  bark  attached  to  the  upper  sides  of  the  poles, 
to  keep  the  nets  tight. 

'They'll  be  dry  before  breakfast  if  it's  the  sort 
of  day  I  think  it'll  be  tomorrow,"  said  Karl,  "I'm 
going  to  ask  Nore  if  I  can  go  along  too,  if  mother 
can  spare  me,  I'm  tired  of  playing  with  Magnus 
Larson,  I  want  to  see  something." 

"Well,  you  won't  see  very  much,  just  going  up 
the  skerries  a  little  way,  with  Nore,"  answered 
Marta  as  they  walked  back  to  the  cottage. 

"Nore  and  I  have  good  times  when  I  go  fishing 
with  him — see  those  new  sails  of  old  Gustaf  Mam- 
burg,"  exclaimed  Karl,  turning  to  watch  the  stately 
sail  boat,  with  it's  red  sails.  He  waved  his  hand  and 
someone  from  the  boat  waved  back. 

Meanwhile  Nore  had  walked  slowly  down  the 
beach.  He  threw  himself  down  on  the  sand  at  last 
and  pulled  his  cap  down:  over  his  eyes,  for  the  eve- 
ning sun  was  blinding.  He  had  been  fishing  all  day 
and  he  was  tired.  "Pepparkakor,"  a  half  breed 
sheep  dog,  who  had  appeared  suddenly  at  his  side, 
as  he  walked  along  the  beach,  lay  down  beside  him 
and  sighed  as  though  he  too,  were  tired. 

"Where  have  you  been,  Pepparkakor.  the  children 
have  looked  for  you  since  breakfast,  why  do  you  run 


dxel's  Invitation  19 

away?"  asked  Nore  sleepily,  putting  his  hand  on  the 
dog's  head,  as  they  both  lay  there  in  the  sand. 

Nore  was  thinking  of  the  arrival  of  the  American 
children,  the  dark  looking  girl  whom  he  had  seen 
with  Valfried  Essen.  For  all  the  Carlson  children 
the  castle  on  the  rocks  held  the  greatest  charm,  but 
for  Nore,  it  held  more  than  that.  He  had  gone  there 
once,  on  an  errand  for  the  pastor  at  Boo,  the  near- 
est village.  He  had  been  given  a  note  by  the  pastor, 
who  had  been  in  a  great  hurry  to  take  the  next  boat 
for  Stockholm.  He  had  happened  to  see  Nore  and 
had  asked  him  as  a  favor,  to  deliver  the  message. 
"Give  this,  yourself,  to  the  Count  Essen,  do  not  leave 
it  with  a  servant,"  he  had  said. 

Nore  had  waited  in  the  great  hall  until  a  man- 
servant had  shown  him  into  the  library,  where  the 
count  was  sitting.  Nore  could  shut  his  eyes  and  see 
the  room  so  plainly,  the  rich  old  room,  the  walls 
lined  with  books,  the  dark  room,  deeply  shadowed, 
the  great  wolf  rug  in  front  of  the  fire,  and  in  a  carved 
oak  chair,  close  to  the  fire,  the  old  man  himself. 

Nore  had  spoken.  "A  note  for  you,  Greve  Essen, 
from  the  Herr  Pastor." 

How  the  old  man  had  jumped!  "Who  spoke?" 
he  had  asked  sharply,  even  though  half  asleep.  "I, 
Nore  Carlson,  the  Herr  Pastor's  messenger,"  he  had 
answered.  He  had  put  the  note  into  the  hands  of 
the  old  man  who  sat  up  dazedly,  roused  suddenly 
from  his  sleep.  Nore  had  turned  away  at  once,  he 


ao  Midsummer 

had  been  only  a  little  boy  at  the  time  and  he  suddenly 
felt  a  little  frightened.  He  stumbled  over  a  rug  as  he 
crossed  the  dark  room,  and  as  he  went  out,  he  heard 
the  count  mutter  again,  "Who  spoke,  who  spoke?" 

Nore  had  never  told  anyone  of  his  "adventure," 
as  he  liked  to  call  it,  it  had  been  fun,  just  keeping 
it  to  himself.  When  he  heard  his  sisters  and  brother 
wondering  as  to  what  it  could  be  like,  inside  the 
castle,  he  had  thought,  "Some  time  I'll  tell  them 
about  the  library,"  but  he  never  had;  even  his  mother 
did  not  know  that  he  had  been  there. 

He  was  almost  asleep,  and  Pepparkakor  was  far 
in  the  land  of  dreams  when  suddenly  a  voice  called 
him,  there  were  flying  steps,  and  a  boy  of  about  his 
own  age  came  and  threw  himself  down  beside  him. 
The  newcomer  flung  his  cap  down  on  Pepparkakor, 
who  wagged  his  tail  sleepily  in  answer,  then  he  lay 
panting  for  a  moment  for  he  had  run  far  across  the 
beach.  He  talked  between  gasps  of  breath  and  as 
though  he  had  news  of  the  greatest  interest.  He 
was  Axel  Jensen,  Nore's  greatest  friend. 

"I'm  going  to  Stockholm  for  midsummer,  and 
you're  going  too,  we've  talked  of  it  so  many  times 
and  now  the  chance  has  come — an  invitation  from 
mother's  friend,  Fru  Strom,  who  has  the  Konditori, 
she  wrote  a  note  which  came  by  this  afternoon's 
boat,"  he  panted,  throwing  a  great  handful  of  sand 
on  Pepparkakor.  Then  he  took  a  deep  breath  and 
went  on. 


Axel's  Invitation  21 

"The  note  said:  'Send  your  oldest  boy  up. for  a 
few  days,  at  midsummer,  I've  my  nephew's  cot  I  can 
put  up  in  a  corner  of  the  shop,  and  if  his  friend  wants 
to  come,  one  of  them  can  sleep  on  the  window  set- 
tle/ " 

Axel  sat  up  and  pulled  on  his  coat  which  he  had 
jerked  off  as  he  ran  along  the  beach.  Nore,  too,  sat 
up  and  looked  at  Axel  eagerly.  "I'd  like  to  go,  well, 
I  should  say  I  would,"  he  said  slowly.  "Stockholm 
at  midsummer!  but  it's  no  use,  Ax,  I  can't  go,  be- 
cause I'm  selling  all  the  fish  I  can  catch,  at  a  good 
price,  to  the  summer  villa  people.  Mother  mustn't 
work  so  hard  next  winter,  I'm  trying,  she  and  I  are 
trying  to  save  a  bit."  He  hesitated  and  then  turning 
towards  Axel,  he  frowned  in  a  puzzled  sort  of  way. 

"The  rug  weaving  is  such  tedious  work  for  mother 
— and  the  girls  need  shoes  and  clothes — I've  got 
to  fish  and  fish  and  fish  all  summer."  Axel  gave  an 
exclamation  of  impatience.  "Oh  bother!  Stop  talk- 
ing like  an  old  grandfather,"  he  exclaimed.  "You've 
got  to  come,  you  never  do  anything  but  fish,  we 
haven't  had  any  fun  for  ages,  you  spend  the  whole 
summer  fussing  about  how  you'll  get  through  the 
winter,  the  chance  has  come  and  you've  got  to  go." 
Axel  was  so  in  earnest  that  there  was  a  lump  in  his 
throat,  but  Nore  shook  his  head. 

"It's  no  use,  Ax,  there's  no  chance  of  my  going," 
he  said  simply. 

They  started  off  across  the  beach  towards  the 


22  Midsummer 

Carlson's  cottage,  Pepparkakor  running  around  and 
around  them. 

"We're  not  sheep,  why  are  you  trying  to  round  us 
in,  old  funny  Peppar?"  laughed  Nore,  shaking  the 
fair  hair  out  of  his  eyes.  There  was  a  lump  in  his 
throat  too,  but  he  would  not  have  owned  it  for  the 
world,  he  was  no  baby  to  cry  because  he  could  not 
have  a  holiday;  rather  he  was  the  head  of  the  house. 

Axel  was  in  a  bad  temper,  he  kicked  the  sand  into 
a  cloud,  as  they  walked  slowly  along  the  beach.  He 
would  not  answer  when  Nore  spoke  to  him,  and 
though  he  removed  his  cap,  when  they  came  up  to 
the  cottage  door  where  Fru  Carlson  was  standing,  he 
did  not  smile  as  was  his  custom,  but  stood,  frowning. 

"Why,  Axel,  you  seem  sad,  what  then  is  the  mat- 
ter?" asked  Fru  Carlson  kindly,  for  Axel  was  a 
prime  favorite  with  them  all. 

"Oh,  it  is  because  Nore  is  so  stubborn.  He  will 
not  go  with  me  to  Stockholm  for  midsummer.  We 
can  stay  with  mother's  friend,  Fru  Strom,  she  has 
written  asking  us." 

Fru  Carlson  put  her  hand  on  Axel's  arm. 

"Why,  of  course  he  shall  go,  Axel,  write  at  once 
to  your  mother's  friend,  thank  her  many  times  and 
say  that  he  will  be  delighted  to  go.  Hjalmar  from 
the  castle  says  that  the  Essen  children  are  to  go  to 
Stockholm  for  midsummer  also,  with  the  Zanders, 
so  you  will  each  be  having  a  holiday  in  your  own 
way,"  said  Fru  Carlson. 


Axel's  Invitation  23 

"But  mother,  you  know  I  cannot  go,  this  is  the 
height  of  the  season.  Indeed  Axel  I  shall  wait  till 
another  time,"  exclaimed  Nore. 

"You  will  do  as  I  tell  you,  I  am  not  in  the  habit 
of  being  contradicted.  Understand  that  you  are  to 
go  with  Axel,  and  say  no  more  against  it." 

Never  had  his  mother  spoken  so  sternly  to  him ! 
Nore  hardly  noticed  when  Axel  took  himself  off, 
running  home  to  write  the  letter  to  his  mother's 
friend,  with  the  glad  news  that  they  both  could  come. 
Nore  went  slowly  inside  the  cottage  and  hung  his 
coat  on  a  nail  by  the  door.  How  oddly  his  mother 
had  spoken  when  she  had  said  that  the  Essen  chil- 
dren: were  to  go  to  Stockholm  with  the  Zanders. 
"You  will  each  have  a  holiday,  in  your  own  way," 
she  had  said.  It  was  almost  as  though  she  wanted 
him  to  have  a  holiday  because  they  were  having 
one. 

As  he  turned  away  from  hanging  up  his  coat,  his 
mother  stood  beside  him;  he  put  his  arm  around  her 
and  kissed  her,  as  he  always  did. 

"You  never  spoke  to  me  that  way,  before, 
mother,"  he  whispered,  speaking  out  of  his  perplex- 
ity and  pain — "Were  you  angry  with  me?"  he  asked. 

The  mother  held  his  face  close  to  her's  for  a  mo- 
ment, she  was  not  demonstrative  and  her  caress  sur- 
prised him  as  her  rebuke  had  done. 

"No,  no,"  she  answered,  "or  rather  angry — not 
with  you  but  because  of  the  look  of  care  in  your 


24  Midsummer 

face,  because  you  do  not  have  fun  with  the  other 
boys." 

The  color  rushed  suddenly  to  his  sensitive  face. 
"Mama  lilla,"  he  said,  "It's  better  than  fun  to  be 
out  in  the  air,  on  the  sea,  fishing,  it's  the  jolliest 
thing  I  do,  and  oh  you  should  know  of  the  thoughts 
I  have."  He  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed. 
"Sometimes  I  think  of  all  that's  going  to  be,  when 
I'm  grown  up.  You  are  going  to  have  everything. 
Oh  yes,  yes,  you  are  going  to  have  velvet  dresses, 
and  the  children,  Oh  they  shall  feast  upon  straw- 
berries, sugar  and  cream."  He  laughed  again  and 
Thure  in  bed  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  laughed  also. 
"What  are  you  going  to  be,  Nore?"  asked  Marta, 
calling  from  the  next  room. 

"An  artist  if  life  is  kind,  you  know  that  well, 
Marta,"  he  answered  as  he  took  up  the  wood  box 
and  went  on  through  to  the  back  of  the  house.  He 
whistled  as  he  came  in  again  with  the  wood.  Now 
that  it  wa's  actually  decided  that  he  was  to  go  to 
Stockholm,  he  was  beginning  to  be  very  excited,  he 
lay  awake  until  late  that  night,  in  his  cot  beside  Karl. 
The  events  of  the  evening  kept  going  through  his 
mind:  the  little  American  girl  on  the  rocks,  then 
Axel's  invitation  to  go  to  Stockholm,  the  wonderful 
city  that  he  had  never  seen,  his  mother's  reproach, 
then  her  sorrow  that  he  did  not  have  as  much  fun 
as  did  the  other  boys. 

Well,  he  had  his  dreams! 


Axel's  Invitation  25 

Perhaps  he  would  see  the  king,  in  Stockholm,  that 
would  indeed  be  wonderful!  He  fell  asleep,  think- 
ing of  this  and  did  not  waken  until  little  Thure 
called  that  breakfast  was  nearly  ready,  and  that 
they  were  having  pankakar  as  a  treat. 

At  breakfast  the  children  were  full  of  the  news 
that  their  brother  was  to  go  to  Stockholm.  Karl 
offered  to  lend  him  his  jack  knife. 

"A  jack  knife  will  be  of  no  use  to  him,  in  Stock- 
holm," said  Marta  scornfully.  "But  you  shall  have 
my  new  dark  blue  scarf,  Nore,  the  one  the  wife  of 
the  pastor  at  Boo,  gave  me  for  my  Name's  Day." 
Marta  smiled  at  her  brother  as  she  spoke. 

"That  will  indeed  be  good,"  agreed  Fru  Carlson. 
"He  will  need  it  when  he  sits  out  at  night  to  listen 
to  the  music." 

"They  always  sit  out  in  Stockholm,  at  midsummer. 
Froken  Valfried  Zander  told  me  so — Oh  mother, 
do  you  think  Thure  and  Karl  and  I  can  go,  some- 
day?" 

The  mother  smiled.  "Stockholm  is  not  Paradise, 
as  you  seem  to  think  it,  Marta,  but  sometime  if  you 
are  good,  yes,  I  daresay,  you  can  go." 

"Someday  we  will  sail  down  to  Stockholm  in  a 
golden  boat,  all  of  us,"  said  Nore  as  he  went  out  to 
his  nets  which  had  dried  in  the  fierce  early  sun. 


CHAPTER  3 

"En  Socker  Bagere" 

AUDREY  was  right,  the  castle  was  a  gloomy  place. 
It  was  built  of  stone  and  stood  high  on  the  rocks, 
overlooking  the  sea.  Gulls  flapped  their  wings  about 
its  turrets  and  harsh-voiced  crows  screamed  cease- 
lessly at  its  windows. 

"You  old  crows,  if  only  I  had  a  shot  gun  and 
could  shoot  you  all  off  at  one  shot,  wretched  things !" 
Audrey  pulled  aside  the  curtain  at  one  of  her  win- 
dows and  frowned  at  a  very  impudent  crow  who 
seemed  to  sneer  at  her.  It  was  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  the  sun  shone  brilliantly.  Gradually 
the  magic  of  the  scene  outside  drove  away  the  frown 
and  she  stood  drinking  in  the  almost  blinding  beauty 
of  the  sea  and  sky,  swept  as  they  were  by  the  magic 
of  a  northern  sunrise. 

"It's  gorgeous  beyond  words,  but  it's  too — too 
big,  it  almost  scares  me,"  she  thought  Then  she 
spoke  again  to  the  crow  who  was  perched  just  near 
her  window  and  whose  loud  cawing  had  awakened 
her.  "I'll  get  even  with  you  yet,  old  man,  don't  you 
forget  it."  She  drew  the  curtain  together  after  this 

26 


"En  Socker  Bagere"  27 

speech  and  went  back  to  bed.  The  light  cre.pt  in  at 
every  corner,  the  dark  green  curtains  doing  little 
towards  keeping  it  out.  "It's  just  day  all  the  time, 
I'll  never  get  used  to  it.  I  wish  we  were  at  Newport 
with  granny,"  she  thought,  but  she  knew  that  was 
not  really  true;  it  was  only  that  she  was  not  quite 
used  to  the  strangeness  yet. 

Her  very  large  bed  was  deeply  carved  and  there 
were  faded  red  velvet  curtains  around  it.  She  lay 
still  for  some  time,  staring  at  a  black  and  gold  chest 
in  one  corner  and  at  the  tall  white  tombstone-like 
stove  in  the  other. 

"Funny  idea  having  that  stove  here,  it  looks  so 
out  of  place,"  she  thought.  "Was  she  homesick?" 
she  wondered.  "Of  course  she  was,  but  it  would  pass 
away,  and  after  all,  it  was  splendid  meeting  the  Zan- 
ders, they  were  all  such  fun." 

Four  days  had  passed  since  they  had  all  met  on 
the  rocks,  days  of  sun  and  laughter.  Twice  they  had 
had  "coffee  parties"  on  the  rocks,  and  every  day 
they  had  been  in  swimming,  and  she  and  Valfried 
had  rowed  out  to  catch  the  swell  from  the  Gustafs- 
burg  steamer,  as  it  came  from  the  fjord,  into  the 
bay.  What  fun  that  had  been!  She  and  Valfried 
were  becoming  splendid  friends,  Audrey  never  tired 
of  hearing  Valfried  tell  of  Stockholm  in  the  winter, 
the  strict  school  that  she  attended,  where  she  had  to 
be  in  her  seat  at  half  past  seven  in  the  morning. 
"Oh,  it's  so  dark  and  cold,  Audrey,  you  can't  think, 


28  Midsummer 

just  as  black  as  night;  if  you  stay  next  winter,  you'll 
see!" 

Stay  next  winter!  The  very  thought  was  out  of 
the  question.  Not  to  see  New  York,  Fifth  Avenue 
and  the  girls  at  Miss  Daly's  school,  and  best  of  all, 
her  dear,  kind,  busy  father! 

She  looked  at  the  picture  of  a  young  girl  in  white, 
which  hung  just  in  front  of  her.  It  was  a  painting 
of  her  mother,  done  before  her  debut  in  Stockholm, 
before  she  had  married  the  American  and  had  gone 
so  far  away  to  live  and  die. 

Audrey  was  rather  cross  at  breakfast  the  next 
morning.  She  and  Sven  ate  alone  in  the  great  dark 
dining  room.  Aunt  Greta  had  been  up  for  some 
time. 

"Funny  this  room  is  always  dark,  with  all  the  sun 
outside,"  remarked  Sven  cheerfully,  as  he  spread 
some  butter  on  a  piece  of  freshly  baked,  spicy  coffee 
cake,  and  began  to  eat  it  with  enjoyment. 

"The  whole  place  is  dark  and  the  people  in  it  have 
dark  souls,"  exclaimed  Audrey,  taking  a  savage  bite 
of  bread  and  butter.  She  often  made  remarks  like 
this  and  her  brother,  being  used  to  them,  went  calm- 
ly on  with  his  breakfast. 

"Nice  thing  to  say  about  your  relatives,  hope  you 
don't  count  me  in,  you  seem  to  have  a  grouch. 
What's  the  matter  with  you,  aren't  we  having  a  peach 
of  a  time?" 

"I  didn't  mean  that  our  relatives  are  wicked,  I 


"En  Socker  Bagere"  29 

mean  they're  sad.  Yes,  it's  great  fun  being  with  the 
Zanders,  I'm^keen  about  going  to  Stockholm  with 
them  next  week,  aren't  you?"  asked  Audrey,  cheered 
by  her  breakfast  and  inclined  to  look  on  the  brighter 
side.  She  felt  that  Sven  could  not  understand  many 
of  the  things  that  troubled  her,  he  was  so  slow  and 
matter  of  fact.  The  gloominess  of  the  castle  and 
the  cawing  of  the  crows  did  not  disturb  his  sleep. 

"You  and  Bjorn  might  try  to  do  something  about 
the  crows,  they're  mean,  impudent  creatures,  I'll 
never  get  used  to  their  screeching.  Isn't  it  funny 
here,  Sven? — and,  oh  dear,  if  we  could  only  make 
Aunt  Greta  laugh  more,  she's  only  laughed  the  one 
time  when  you  and  I  danced  the  cake  walk,  down 
the  hall  and  grandfather — why  they  both  of  them 
just  stay  in,  all  day,  they  just  sit  by  the  fire  and  Aunt 
Greta  knits  and  knits,  and  every  time  we  speak 
grandfather  mutters,  'Sigreid's  children,  Sigreid's 
children !'  " 

"Grandfather  likes  to  have  you  around,  just  the 
same,"  answered  Sven,  pouring  some  cream  on  his 
porridge.  "You've  made  him  laugh  several  times, 
especially  when  you  told  about  the  time  we  took 
granny  in  the  subway,  for  the  first  time." 

"I'm  going  to  wake  grandfather  up  this  summer, 
see  if  I  don't — Aunt  Greta  too,  she's  a  dear,  really, 
she  just  needs  to  be  happy,  she  needs  to  be  interest- 
ed." Audrey  said  this  last  over  her  shoulder  as  they 
left  the  dining  room,  and  Sven  replied,  as  they  went 


30  Midsummer 

out  of  the  great  hall  into  the  morning  sunshine. 
"You  can  wake  her  up,  if  it's  possible  for  any  one 
to  do  it,  sis." 

They  were  to  sail  with  the  Zanders  and  after  a 
kiss  for  little  Astrid,  Audrey  sat  down  between  her 
and  Valfried  and  watched  the  boys  as  they  worked 
at  the  sails.  The  wind  was  brisk  and  just  right  in 
the  right  direction  and  the  sea  as  blue  as  Valfried's 
eyes. 

"We  have  to  sew,  this  afternoon,  Astrid  and  I, 
we  can  only  sail  for  an  hour  or  so,  but  we  do  want 
to  talk  about  Stockholm.  We're  so  glad  you  and 
Sven  are  going  with  us.  We're  to  open  the  flat  on 
Strandvagen — won't  it  be  fun,  showing  Stockholm 
to  Audrey  and  Sven,  Bjorn?"  Valfried  laughed  as 
she  spoke,  giving  Audrey  a  little  hug. 

"Sit  tight,  girls !  Yes,  it  will  be  fun.  I'm  going  to 
take  Sven  over  to  the  navy  yard." 

Astrid  spoke  up  shrilly.  "I'm  going,  too,  and  I'm 
to  have  a  pistache  cake  with  whipped  cream  on  the 
top  of  it.  Mother  said  I  might."  Then  she  began 
to  sing  in  her  funny  little  high  voice.  Astrid  was 
only  eight  years  old  but  she  liked  very  much  to  be 
the  central  figure.  This  is  what  she  sang: 

"En  socker  bagere  som  bord  i  staden, 
Han  hakar  kakarna  hala  dagen, 
Han  bakar  stura,  han  bakar  smo, 
Han  bakar  nogra  med  socker  po." 


"En  Socker  Bagere"  31 

"It's  a  nice  song,"  she  said,  turning  to  look  up 
at  Audrey.  "It's  about  a  lovely  baker  who  just 
baked  cakes  all  day  long.  Little  ones  and  big  ones." 
Astrid  leaned  over  the  side  of  the  boat,  trailing  her 
fat  little  hand  in  the  water,  as  she  sang.  The  wind 
had  come  up  briskly  and  Bjorn  was  busy  trimming 
the  sail.  A  moment  later  they  entered  one  of  the 
narrow  water  ways  and  Bjorn  called  out  a  greeting 
to  a  boy  who  was  coming  towards  them  in  a  row- 
boat.  It  was  Nore. 

No  one  ever  knew  quite  what  happened  next  ex- 
cept that  there  was  a  sudden  sound  as  of  something 
tearing,  then  a  harsh  creaking  and  quicker  than 
thought  the  back  mast  tore  away  from  the  boom 
and  little  Astrid  was  flung  violently  into  the  water. 
The  force  of  the  mast,  swinging  back,  although  it 
did  not  hit  Sven  or  the  girls,  threw  them  back  against 
the  far  side  of  the  boat.  They  were  unhurt  and,  like 
a  flash,  both  Sven  and  Bjorn  turned  to  leap  after 
Astrid.  Someone  was  quicker,  however.  Nore  had 
jumped  from  his  boat,  caught  Astrid  as  she  rose  to 
the  surface,  and  was  treading  water,  holding  her  in 
his  arms,  at  the  side  of  the  boat,  almost  before  one 
could  breathe. 

Bjorn,  seeing  that  Astrid  was  safe  and  that  Sven 
was  helping  them  into  the  boat,  bent  his  energies  on 
fixing  the  sail.  They  were  still  in  danger. 

The  boat  rocked  violently.  There  was  a  sharp 
side  wind  which  caught  it.  Bjorn  gave  Sven  quick 


32  Midsummer 

directions  and  after  a  moment,  Norc  was  able  to 
help  too. 

The  sail  was  fastened  as  securely  to  the  boom  as 
two  pairs  of  strong  boy's  hands  could  make  it.  Then 
Bjorn  cleverly  brought  them  close  to  Nore's 
rowboat,  which  Sven  fastened  to  the  sail  boat,  and 
Bjorn  steered  them  safely  into  the  open  bay,  towards 
home. 

Astrid  cried  at  first  but  not  for  long.  Audrey 
wrapped  her  jacket  around  her;  putting  Bjorn's  on 
top  of  that,  she  held  Astrid  close  to  her  and  Valfried 
sat  close,  on  the  other  side,  so  that  they  could  keep 
her  as  warm  as  possible.  Audrey  trembled  but  she 
hoped  no  one  noticed  it.  She  was  not  as  used  to  the 
sea  as  were  the  Swedish  children,  and  she  had  been 
badly  frightened.  Valfried,  too,  had  had  a  scare  and 
reproached  herself  that  she  had  not  taken  better  care 
of  her  little  sister. 

Bjorn  was  very  angry.  "If  she  got  what  she  de- 
served she  would  be  well  whipped  when  she  reaches 
home,"  he  muttered. 

"Why  should  you  blame  Astrid  because  the  mast 
broke  away?"  asked  Audrey.  Astrid  was  a  great 
favorite  with  her,  already. 

"I  do  not  blame  her  for  that  but  she  is  very  dis- 
obedient. It  is  always  the  same  way.  She  does  not 
do  anything  I  tell  her  when  she  is  in  the  boat.  She 
was  leaning  way  over  the  side  of  the  boat;  I  saw  her 
but  I  had  no  time  to  cry  out  as  the  mast  broke  from 


"En  Socker  BagerS*  33 

the  boom.  I  shall  never  take  her  sailing  again.  She 
has  spoiled  the  morning  for  us." 

Astrid  did  not  seem  greatly  alarmed  by  her 
brother's  remarks,  and  now  that  she  was  safe,  with 
Audrey's  arm  around  her,  smiled  on  them  all, 
though  she  was  wet  to  the  skin. 

Audrey  looked  at  Nore.  He,  too,  was  dripping 
wet  and  the  water  ran  down  his  hair  and  face.  He 
looked  at  Audrey  and  smiled  shyly  but  did  not  speak. 
He  was  thinking  what  an  adventure  he  would  have 
to  tell  the  children!  The  American  boy  was  about 
his  own  age,  and  had  such  a  friendly  nice  face  and 
the  girl  was  the  most  interesting  human  being  he  had 
ever  seen.  Her  shaggy  black  hair,  the  life  and 
sparkle  in  her  odd  brownish  grey  eyes !  How  differ- 
ent she  was  from  any  one  of  them ! 

Nore  would  not  stay  when:  the  Zander  children 
entreated  him  to  come  to  Sunhem,  their  summer 
villa,  and  see  their  mother.  "She  will  want  to  thank 
you,  herself.  Think  what  you  did,  Nore,  you  saved 
Astrid!"  exclaimed  Valfried  as  they  all  stood  on  the 
shore,  together. 

"I  was  only  a  minute  quicker  than  the  boys,  be- 
cause they  had  the  boat  to  manage.  It  was  really 
Bjorn's  good  work  that  saved  you  all  from  a  duck- 
ing, at  any  rate,  Froken  Valfried,"  he  answered,  as 
he  jumped  into  his  boat  and  started  off.  Bjorn  had 
thanked  him  warmly  and  said  as  he  rowed  away: 
"He's  more  at  home  on  the  water  than  on  land.  He's 


34  Midsummer 

queer,  I  mean  he  likes  to  go  off  by  himself,  a  good 
deal.  He  taught  me  to  sail,  he's  a  good  fellow." 

Audrey  waved  goodbye  to  Valfried  who  was  hur- 
rying the  dripping  Astrid  towards  the  large  green 
amd  white  villa  which  was  their  summer  home. 

"Oh  Sven,  isn't  Nore  sort  of  like  a  story  book 
person?"  exclaimed  Audrey  as  they  made  their  way 
up  the  rocks.  Sven  answered  vaguely.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  he  hardly  heard  what  she  said,  for  he  was 
writing,  in  his  mind,  an  urgent  letter  to  his  father, 
asking  if  he  could  have  a  sail  boat.  He  went  on 
around  the  side  of  the  house  to  find  Hjalmar,  and 
Audrey  climbed  the  castle  steps  and  ran  on  through 
the  great  hall  to  a  little  sitting  room. 

Tante  Greta  sat  by  the  window,  sewing.  She  was 
a  delicate  looking  woman,  her  fair  hair  was  touched 
with  grey,  she  had  a  gentle  pale  face.  About  her 
shoulders  was  a  soft  blue-grey  shawl.  She  looked 
up  as  Audrey  came  in,  and  smiled  faintly.  Audrey 
at  once  told  of  the  morning's  excitement,  and  was 
immediately  sorry,  for  her  aunt  at  once  grew  nervous 
and  said  that  they  must  not  sail  at  all  if  they  were 
not  more  careful. 

"Your  father  has  trusted  you  to  us,  your  grand- 
father and  me.  He  surely  would  not  approve  of  the 
sailing,"  she  said. 

Audrey  laughed  and  going  to  her  aunt  put  her 
arms  around  her  and  kissed  her.  uDear  Tamte 
Greta,  the  sailing  is  almost  the  most  wonderful  part 


"En  Socker  Eager e"  35 

of  our  being  here,  it's  next  to  seeing  you  and  grand- 
father." She  gave  her  aunt  another  hug  and  went  on 
impulsively.  "Oh,  Tante  Greta,  I  wish  you  ever  had 
any  fun,  you  just  sit  here  day  after  day.  I  know 
your  eyes  trouble  you  but  I  don't  believe  the  sun- 
shine would  hurt  them.  Oh  I'd  like  to  take  you  home 
with  me,  when  we  go  back,  I'd  like  to  take  you  for  a 
ride  on  the  top  of  a  Fifth  Avenue  bus  at  half  past 
five  on  a  Saturday  afternoon  when  the  matinees  are 
just  over.  We'd  have  chocolate  at  Maillard's  and 
then  go  back  to  the  hotel  for  dinner  and  then — " 
Audrey  reflected  a  moment,  "then  we  might  go  to 
Ringling's  circus  at  Madison  Square  Garden  in  the 
evening." 

Audrey  paused  for  breath  and  Tante  Greta  gave 
one  of  her  rare  little  laughs. 

"It's  sweet  of  you,  child,  to  want  me  to  go  back 
with  you,  but  I  do  quite  well  as  I  am,  and  I  could 
never  leave  your  grandfather."  She  smoothed 
Audrey's  arm  gently  as  she  spoke.  After  Audrey 
had  left  the  room  she  stood  for  some  time  at  the 
window,  looking  out,  her  work  falling  idly  at  her 
side. 

"I  always  felt  that  Knut  Carlson  knew  some- 
thing," she  thought,  "I  wish  I  could  have  seen  him 
after  he  came  back  that  last  time,  but  of  course  there 
was  really  nothing  he  could  have  told  me."  She 
sighed  as  she  turned  away  from  the  window,  but  as 
she  stooped  to  pick  up  Audrey's  hat  which  she  had 


36  Midsummer 

dropped  and  forgotten,  she  smiled.  How  different 
indeed  was  the  little  American  niece  from  any  child 
she  had  ever  known,  how  quickly  she  spoke  and 
moved,  how  impulsive  she  was ! 

"I  am  glad  indeed  that  Sigried's  children  are 
here,"  she  thought,  as  she  went  on  out  to  the  balcony 
in  answer  to  a  querulous  call  from  her  father. 


CHAPTER  4 

Making  Friends 

SVEN  went  off  with  Bjorn  after  supper  that  evening 
and  Audrey  had  coffee  alone  with  her  aunt  and 
grandfather  on  the  balcony  which  opened  from  the 
library.  The  old  man  was  well  wrapped  in  shawls 
and  his  daughter  tucked  a  fur  rug  about  his  feet.  He 
fretted  a  good  deal  about  the  air  being  too  keen  and 
kept  them  busy  adjusting  cushions  and  screens  until 
things  were  just  to  his  liking. 

Tante  served  coffee  and  with  it  they  had  freshly 
baked  coffee  bread;  it  had  an  odd  flavor  of  annis  seed 
which  Audrey  was  trying  to  become  accustomed  to. 
She  liked  having  coffee  out  there  with  her  aunt  and 
grandfather.  Audrey  was  fifteen  but  she  was  still 
young  enough  to  enjoy  doing  grown  up  things.  Her 
aunt  made  her  coffee  quite  weak  by  putting  in  plenty 
of  cream,  it  was  sweet  and  fragrant  and  she  drank 
it  each  evening  out  of  a  red  and  gold  cup  with  a  red 
and  gold  dragon  on  one  side.  It  had  belonged  to 
her  mother  and  Tante  Greta  had  given  it  to  her. 

"Tell  me,  Tante  Greta,  tell  me  about  when  you 
and  mother  were  young,  you  must  have  had  splendid 

37 


38  Midsummer 

times,  running  all  around  here,  I  wish  I  had  a  sister, 
Sven  is  all  right  of  course,  but  he  doesn't  like  to 
pretend  or  make  up  plays,  he  just  wants  to  do  some- 
thing all  the  time  and  while  he's  doing  it  he  never 
thinks  of  anything  else.  Why,  when  he  was  collect- 
ing stamps  it  was  awful,  he  just  wouldn't  talk  of  any- 
thing else.  It's  sail  boats  now.  Tell  me,  Tante,  did 
you  and  mother  have  great  fun  when  you  were 
young?" 

Her  aunt  glanced  a  little  uneasily  towards  the  old 
count.  "Your  grandfather  does  not  like  to  talk  of 
the  past,  it  worries  him,"  she  whispered.  Audrey 
was  silent  for  a  moment  and  then  she  stood  up  and 
came  over  to  the  old  man.  She  sat  on  the  stone  rail- 
ing opposite  him,  tossed  the  dark  hair  away  from  her 
shoulders  and  smiled  at  him. 

"Goodness,  grandfather,  why  on  earth  are  they 
all  so  afraid  of  you?  Any  one  would  think  you  were 
Bluebeard  or  the  cross  old  grandfather,  the  sort  of 
witch-like  old  man  in  the  Green  Fairy  book.  Why,  I 
like  you,  I  think  you  are  rather  a  dear." 

Tante  Greta  gazed,  in  silent  amazement  at  her 
daring,  and  the  old  count  chuckled. 

"So,  I  might  be  an  ogre  or  a  Bluebeard,  is  that  it, 
young  America?  Well  you're  outspoken  anyway. 
You  don't  seem  to  share  the  shrinking  of  the  rest, 
you're  not  afraid  of  me,  eh?"  He  glared  up  at 
Audrey  rather  fiercely  from  under  his  bushy  brows. 
He  had  a  fine  head  and  face  but  he  looked  ill  and 


Making  Friends  39 

very  old  and  there  was  a  listlessness  about  his  whole 
appearance.  "It's  just  as  though  he  doesn't  care 
about  anything,"  Audrey  thought.  She  met  his  look 
quite  bravely.  "No,  why  should  I  be,  you  seem  a 
very  nice  old  man  to  me,  besides  you're  my  grand- 
father and  a  part  of  mother's  life.  I  do  think  you're 
rather  selfish  and  certainly  you  are,  all  of  you,  well, 
sort  of  funny,  even  Hjalmar  seems — Oh  sort  of  sol- 
emn and  different!" 

"Hjalmar  too,  aye,  well  we  must  all  of  us  do  bet- 
ter, we  must  try  to  make  more  of  an  impression.  But 
it's  cold  here,  it's  too  cold,  help  me  in,  Greta,  you 
should  not  have  urged  me  to  come  out  at  all,"  said 
the  old  man,  suddenly  remembering  himself  and  his 
ills.  His  daughter  helped  him  to  go  inside  and  then 
turned  back  to  speak  to  Audrey. 

"He  will  want  me  to  read  to  him  for  some  time, 
can  you  amuse  yourself,  alskling?"  she  asked. 
Audrey  assented  eagerly.  "I'll  just  look  around  for 
a  little  while,"  she  said.  Her  aunt  went  inside  and 
she  ran  down  the  balcony  steps  and  stood  for  a 
moment  looking  off  at  the  sea,  then  she  began  to 
climb  down  the  very  steep  rocks,  down,  down  to 
where  her  own  new,  white  rowboat  lay  rocking  at  the 
foot  of  the  cliff. 

The  bay  was  very  quiet.  She  unfastened  the  boat 
and  jumped  in,  shoving  it  away  from  the  little 
stretch  of  sandy  beach,  with  her  sunbrowned  hands. 
There  was  something  very  exciting  to  her  in  going 


40  Midsummer 

off  this  way  for  a  row,  it  was  so  new  to  her,  so 
mysterious,  the  wonder  of  the  sea  and  sky,  the  odd 
dark  water  ways,  so  narrow,  so  silent,  then  the  wide 
open  stretches  of  sea,  sail  boats  in  the  distance,  the 
voices  of  children,  music  from  nearby  villas.  It  was 
like  a  dream. 

She  felt  full  of  energy  in  the  evening  air  and  she 
rowed  for  some  time  before  she  began  to  realize  that 
she  was  a  little  tired.  She  drifted  lazily  for  a  little 
while  and  then  came  to  herself  with  a  start  for  the 
boat  was  bumping  against  some  rocks.  Audrey  de- 
cided at  once  to  explore  them.  She  liked  the  feeling 
of  being  quite  by  herself  in  a  new  place,  so  she 
jumped  out  and  managed  with  a  strong  pull  to  bring 
the  boat  safely  on  shore. 

"I  don't  want  you  to  go  sailing  off  and  leave  me, 
Mr.  Boat,"  she  said.  Then  she  began  to  climb, 
scrambling  higher  and  higher  until  she  found  a  nice 
little  crevice  where  she  seated  herself  comfortably. 
There  were  a  few  black  clouds  in  the  sky  and  all 
around  them  glowed  the  purple  and  scarlet  of  the 
summer  night.  There  was  a  wide  open  bay  in  front 
of  her,  tinted  faintly  to  palest  green  and  pink  and 
grey,  and  in  the  distance  there  was  a  sharp  outline  of 
pines  against  the  beauty  of  the  sky.  Some  brown  sails 
flapped  lazily  in  the  middle  of  the  bay  and  a  boat 
from  Stockholm  was  stopping  at  a  landing  far  r*n 
the  other  side.  She  could  hear  the  noise  it  made  a» 
it  churned  the  water. 


* 


Making  Friends  41 

After  a  while  she  stood  up  and  began  to  wander 
about  the  rocks.  Tante  Greta  would  be  worried  if 
she  were  gone  too  long  but  it  was  so  enchanting  there 
in  the  chill,  sweet,  wonderful  air,  with  the  sea  and  the 
rocks  all  about  her.  She  began  to  think  of  her  espe- 
cial girl  friends  in  New  York,  what  would  they  think 
of  the  castle,  her  grandfather,  Tante  Greta,  Hjal- 
mar,  all  the  funny  new  ways  and  things.  Quaint 
Hjalmar  who  had  said  he  would  tell  her  stories.  She 
stooped  and  picked  a  handful  of  purple  and  gold 
flowers  that  grew  in  the  sides  of  the  rock,  clinging 
so  close  to  the  rough  granite.  How  wonderful  that 
was!  The  delicate  bits  of  color  growing,  no  one 
knew  how,  out  of  the  very  heart  of  stone. 

A  row  boat  was  coming  close,  and  she  watched  it 
idly.  It  was  a  fishing  boat  and  she  could  see  the  dark 
nets,  so  heavily  laden  that  they  hung  far  over  the 
sides  of  the  boat.  As  it  came  nearer  she  saw  that  a 
boy  was  rowing  and  after  a  few  minutes  she  recog- 
nized Nore.  She  sat  down  on  a  ledge  and  watched 
him;  he  could  not  see  her  for  the  light  was  almost 
blinding  as  he  came  towards  the  sunset.  He  tugged 
at  his  boat  after  he  had  jumped  on  the  rock,  for  it 
was  heavy  with  its  burden  of  fish.  Then  he  sprang 
lightly  up  the  rocks  as  though  they  were  old  friends 
of  his  and  as  though  he  had  often  come  to  them,  be- 
fore. Audrey  could  only  see  him  now  and  then  for 
jagged  boulders  stood  in  her  way  but  suddenly  as  he 
jumped  onto  a  very  high  white  one,  he  saw  her,  and 


42  Midsummer 

smiling  with  surprise,  he  leaped  across  two  rocks 
between  them  and  stood  before  her.  He  bowed  in 
his  odd  ceremonious  way  and  said: 

"Good  evening,  Froken." 

"Sit  down  and  let's  talk  for  a  while,  I've  wanted 
to  talk  to  you  ever  since  the  day  we  sailed  and  Astrid 
fell  in  the  water.  Do  you  think  it  queer  that  I  should 
want  to  talk  to  you?"  she  asked  in  her  direct  way. 
Nore  sat  down  on  the  rock  beside  her  and  clasped 
his  brown,  slender  hands  about  his  knees.  "Why, 
yes,"  he  answered  simply,  "it's  odd  that  you  should 
want  to  talk  to  me.  It's  different  with  me  for  of 
course  there  are  so  many  things  you  and  your  brother 
could  tell  me,  I've  never  been  anywhere  or  seen  any- 
thing." 

His  English  was  quite  as  good  as  that  of  the 
Zander  children  and  as  though  he  guessed  her  won- 
der, he  smiled,  saying.  "It  was  Bjorn  Zander  who 
really  taught  me  my  English,  though  of  course  I've 
had  some  in  the  school  at  Boo.  I  taught  him  to  fish 
and  sail  and  he  paid  me  with  English.  We^ve  talked 
a  good  bit  when  we've  been  off  together." 

"That  is  splendid.  Bjorn  is  slow  but  he  is  good, 
I'm  sure." 

"I'd  like  to  tell  you  anything  you'd  like  to  know, 
I  can  tell  you  about  New  York  and  all,  but  if  you 
don't  mind,  I'd  like  to  talk  about  Sweden  tonight. 
You  see  it's  all  so  strange  to  me  and  no  one  seems  to 
understand.  It's  just  home  to  the  Zanders,  I  mean 


Making  Friends  43 

not  odd  or  different  at  all.  They've  never  known 
anything  else,  neither  has  Tante  Greta.  Oh  I  know 
you  haven't  either  but  I  think  you'll  understand,  you 
can  imagine  things,  canit  you?  You  can  tell  me  of 
the  old  legends,  the  old,  old  things." 

Nore  turned  and  looked  at  her.  His  pale  face 
brightened.  It  was  rather  a  cold  face,  oddly  care- 
worn in  spite  of  his  youth.  When  he  smiled  as  he 
did  then,  it  became  at  once  boyish  and  happy.  Still 
with  his  hands  clasped  about  his  knees,  he  turned  and 
looked  at  Audrey.  "Why,  Frokeir,  what  sort  of  a 
friend  could  I  be  for  you?  There  is  so  little  I  have 
seen,  so  much  I  have  to  learn.  I  only  fish — and 
dream."  He  looked  off  at  the  sunset-tinted  sea  as 
he  spoke. 

"Well,  couldn't  you  tell  me  about  your  dreams," 
laughed  Audrey.  Then  she  went  on,  speaking 
eagerly.  "You  see  that's  just  what  I  want  to  hear 
about.  I  want  to  feel  that  it's  like  a  fairy  story  here. 
I  want  to  imagine  these  are  enchanted  islands.  It's 
fun.  I'm  very  fond  of  Sven,  of  course,  but  he  never 
could  imagine  anything!"  She  laughed  and  so  did 
Nore.  He  seemed  suddenly  to  lose  his  shyness  and 
soon:  both  children  were  talking  busily.  Nore  told 
of  the  dark,  silent,  icy  days  when  the  Zanders  and 
all  the  other  city  folk  had  left.  He  told  how  he  and 
the  other  children  crossed  the  fields  on  their  snow- 
shoes  until  they  came  to  the  narrowest  fjord  and 
then  how  they  went  over  the  narrow,  dark,  ice- 


44  Midsummer 

covered  water,  still  on  the  shoes,  until  at  last  they 
came  to  the  little  school  house  at  Boo. 

"It  is  a  long  way  and  a  hard  way  but  you  see 
there  are  no  neighbors  to  help  us.  Old  Gustaf 
Mamburg  had  a  sledge  and  a  funny  old  horse  but 
the  poor  animal  died.  That  was  sad  for  us  because 
sometimes  Gustaf  would  drive  us  all  the  way.  He  is 
a  good  man,  old  Gustaf.  Often  of  an  evening  he 
and  Hjalmar  come  to  us.  Then  indeed  we  have  a 
pleasant  time  for  they  have  many  things  to  tell  of  the 
strange  things  at  sea.  Sometimes  they  come  for  sup- 
per. Except  for  Gustaf  and  old  Hjalmar  we  are 
so  alone.  There  is  no  village  nearer  than  Boo,  no 
one  at  all  except  the  Jensens  and  ourselves,  I  mean 
no  children  for  school,  just  fishermen.  I'm  not  going 
to  school  next  winter,  I'm  going  to  have  work." 
Nore  flushed  slightly  as  he  spoke.  "Gustaf  Solson 
is  going  to  let  me  help  in  his  butcher  shop.  I  make 
a  good  deal  with  the  fish  but  it's  not  really  enough 
to  carry  us  through  the^  winter,  even  with  mother 
weaving  carpets  for  a  shop  in  Stockholm." 

Before  Audrey  could  answer,  Nore  pointed  to  an 
oddly  shaped  gold  cloud  in  the  sky.  "Isn't  it  like  a 
boat?"  he  asked.  "I  so  often  dream  of  boats  when 
I'm  sailing  at  sunset.  I  like  to  think  I'm  in  a  sort  of 
enchanted  boat  that  is  sailing  through  an  unknown 
sea,  one  that  no  one  has  ever  seen:  before,  I  like  to 
imagine  that  I'm  a  strange  enchanted  person,  not  a 
prince  for  I  wouldn't  care  about  that  but  someone 


Making  Friends  45 

t 

who  has  done  and  seen  wonderful  things."  He 
stopped  speaking  suddenly.  "It  sounds  very  childish, 
but  when  you're  off  alone,  fishing  as  I  am,  most  of  the 
time,  you  get  to  thinking  and  imagining." 

"I  have  thoughts,  too,  though  Fm  almost  never 
alone,  but  they  are  not  as  interesting  as  yours — only 
since  IVe  come  to  Sweden,  some  way  things  seem  so. 
— well  I  can't  explain,  so  strange  and  so  utterly  dif- 
ferent from  anything  Sven  and  I  have  ever  known. 
It's  sort  of  what  you  dream  about  and  yet  never 
really  expect  to  see,  the  strange  light  at  night,  the 
queer  fjords,  the  castle,  the  odd  way  of  speaking  and 
doing  things,  Tante  Greta  and  grandfather,  old 
Hjalmar,  no  one  caring  to  hear  about  America  and 
yet  everyone  being  so  polite  and  kind!"  Audrey 
paused,  out  of  breath,  she  spoke  so  quickly  that  it 
was  a  little  difficult  for  Nore  to  follow  her,  though 
he  listened  carefully.  At  any  rate,  she  had  been 
able  to  unburden  her  mind  and  she  felt  the  better 
for  it. 

Nore  looked  for  a  moment  at  Audrey.  She  wore 
a  white  dress  and  a  scarlet  and  white  sweater,  her 
grey-brown  eyes  were  bright  with  the  interest  of  the 
moment  her  short,  black  hair  stood  out  about  her 
tanned,  eager,  intense  little  face.  "She  looks  like 
America  as  IVe  thought  of  it,  she  is  very,  very  dif- 
ferent from  us  and  yet  she  understands,"  he  thought. 

The  stars  came  out  faintly  as  though  they  did  not 
dare  to  shine  in  the  midst  of  so  much  gorgeous  color. 


46  Midsummer 

Some  peasants  going  by  in  a  boat  for  a  picnic  farther 
on  sang  as  they  rowed  by. 

"I  must  go,  it  is  late  and  Xante  Greta  might 
worry.  It  seems  so  odd,  the  brightness  all  the  time, 
light,  light,  light.  Oh,  I  do  want  to  hear  so  many 
things !  You  tell  me  about  Sweden  and  your  dreams 
about  the  islands  and  I'll  let  you  take  my  books  if 
you  like,  I've  ever  so  many." 

"You  are  kind,  Froken  Audrey,  indeed  it  would 
be  good  to  read,  I  have  more  time  in  the  winter; 
when  I  come  back  at  night  from  Gustaf  Solson's 
shop  winter  evenings  I  can  read  and  study.  There  is 
a  verse  I  read  in  an  American  book  of  poems  that 
Fru  Zander  gave  me  once  on  my  birthday,  I  like 
to  think  of  it  when  I  watch  the  stars :" 

"Once  as  I  told  in  glee 
Tales  of  the  stormy  sea, 
Soft  eyes  did  gaze  on  me, 
Burning  yet  tender. 
And  as  the  soft  stars  shine 
On  the  dark  Norway  pine, 
On  this  dark  heart  of  mine, 
Shone  their  soft  splendor." 

uThat  seems  just  like  here,  doesn't  it?  I've  watched 
the  stars  from  the  castle  windows  at  night,  they  are 
— they  almost  frighten  me."  Audrey  stood  up  as 
she  spoke  and  they  climbed  down  the  rocks,  Nore 


Making  Friends  47 

knew  them  all  so  well  he  never  missed  his  footing, 
and  he  helped  Audrey  over  the  most  jagged  ones. 
When  they  reached  the  boats  he  helped  her  in  and 
shoved  her  boat  off  for  her.  She  held  out  her  hand 
to  him.  "Nore,  we're  friends,  aren't  we?  It's  been 
so  nice  to  hear  about  things.  You  make  Sweden 
seem  so  mysterious.  Let's  be  really  good  chums,  you 
and  I.  You'll  like  Sven,  too,  when  you  know  him, 
he's  slow  and  funny  but  he's  really  a  dear." 

Nore  smiled  again,  he  was  too  fine  to  tell  Audrey 
that  he  was  but  a  fisher  lad  and  that  she  was  the 
Count  Essen's  granddaughter.  "It  would  mean  a 
great  deal  to  have  you  and  your  brother  for  friends, 
thank  you  indeed.  You  have  given  me  new  thoughts, 
some  day  perhaps  you  will  tell  me  of  your  own  coun- 
try, I  have  always  wanted  to  know  of  it,  Oh,  so 
much!" 

"Yes,  and  the  books,  I'll  not  forget  them.  The 
Wind  In  the  Willows'  is  one  that  you'll  be  simply 
crazy  about,  it's  about  darling  animals  that  are  like 
people,  only  far  more  interesting."  She  picked  up 
her  oars  and  with  Nore  rowing  beside  her,  they 
began  their  homeward  journey.  Except  for  the  wide 
spaces,  they  could  not  row  together  for  it  was  not 
safe,  a  large  boat  might  come  through  and  they  must 
be  ready  for  one  at  any  time. 

"What  a  nice  boy  he  is,  so  different  from  Bjorn, 
for  he  makes  me  really  feel  what  Sweden  is.  If  only 
he  wouldn't  be  so  formal!  Froken!  Why  that  is 


48  Midsummer 

the  way  they  speak  to  grown  up  people  here,  it's  so 
funny,"  she  thought  as  the  castle  hove  in  sight  and 
they  made  for  the  landing.  Nore  bowed  in  his 
quaint  way,  jumped  out  of  his  boat  and  pulled  her's 
up  on  the  sand,  helped  her  out  and  then  jumping 
lightly  into  his  own  boat,  lifted  his  oars  and  smiled 
good-by.  She  stood  watching  him  as  he  rowed 
steadily  towards  the  little  shabby  hut  across  the  bay, 
that  was  his  home. 


CHAPTER  5 
The  Name's  Day 

OLD  Hjalmar  sat  on  an  overturned  rowboat,  filling 
his  pipe  and  looking  meditatively  off  at  the  lazy  blue 
sea.  He  was  thinking  so  intently  that  he  did  not 
see  a  flying  figure  coming  towards  him.  It  was 
Audrey.  She  sank  breathlessly  down  beside  the 
boat  on  the  warm  sand  and  smiled  up  at  him. 

"It's  my  Name's  Day,  Hjalmar,  what  a  funny 
idea!  Sven  and  I  have  been  laughing  about  it,  it's 
so  odd  to  celebrate  a  day  that  belongs  to  your 


name !" 


Hjalmar  took  his  pipe  from  his  mouth.  "There 
is  nothing  at  all  amusing  in  that,  Froken  Audrey, 
it  is  a  very  special  happy  time,  there  is  much  feast- 
ing, you  will  see."  He  nodded  at  her  gravely  as  he 
spoke. 

They  were  very  good  friends,  Audrey  and  the  old 
servant.  Audrey  loved  to  talk  and  Hjalmar  was  an 
excellent  listener.  He  had  picked  up  a  knowledge 
of  English  in  his  travels  years  ago  and  he  was  try- 
ing to  teach  Audrey  to  speak  Swedish. 

"It  is  very  bad  that  you  do  not  know  the  language 

49 


50  Midsummer 

of  your  mother,  Froken,"  he  said  to  her.  "There  is 
no  language  so  wonderful.  When  it  is  spoken  it  is 
very  fine,  and  when  it  is  sung — ah!  then  it  is  the 
best  of  all." 

"It's  a  good  thing,  Hjalmar,  that  they  gave  me 
some  Swedish  names  when  I  was  baptised,  other- 
wise there  wouldn't  be  any  name  to  fit  the  day. 
Audrey  Bradford  could  never  have  anything  as  in- 
teresting as  a  real  celebration  in  her  honor,  but 
Audrey  Signed  Maria  Bradford  is  invited  to  spend 
the  afternoon  and  have  dinner  at  Sunhem,  with  the 
Zanders !" 

This  was  Sigried  day  and  one  of  Audrey's  names 
was  Sigried,  the  name  that  had  been  her  mother's. 

"Oh,  I  do  wish  they  had  called  me  Sigried,  Hjal- 
mar,   it's   the   loveliest   name    I    know    and   it   was 
mother's — you  knew  her  when  she  was  a  little  girl. 
Was  she  anything  like  me?" 
Hjalmar  shook  his  head. 

"No,  Froken,"  he  answered  slowly,  "no,  she  was 
.as  different" — he  pondered  for  several  minutes — 
"she  was  as  different  as  a  calm  from  a  squall!" 

[Hjalmar  thought  always  slowly  and  this  was  so 
unusual  a  way  for  him  to  speak  that  he  himself  was 
surprised.  He  smiled  as  Audrey's  laugh  rang  out  in 
the  sparkling  air. 

"Oh,  you're  so  funny,  Hjalmar,"  she  said.  She 
grew  earnest  suddenly. 

"There  are  so  many  things  I  want  to  ask  you. 


The  Name's  Day  5 1 

Did  she  and  Aunt  Greta  have  jolly  times  together — 
Hjalmar,  you  are  not  listening  to  me,  you  look  as 
though  your  thoughts  were  way  off,  there  is  some- 
thing I  want  to  speak  to  you  about." 

"Ja,  so!"  ejaculated  Hjalmar. 

"Yes,  there  are  many  things  I  want  to  know  about, 
the  castle  for  one  thing,  you  seem  such  a  part  of  it!" 
Audrey  folded  her  hands  about  her  knees  and  looked 
up  at  Hjalmar.  She  wore  a  new  Peter  Thompson 
suit,  with  a  dashing  red  tie,  her  eyes  sparkled  with 
the  excitement  of  the  day,  the  sun  and  the  keen  salt 
air  seemed  to  laugh  in  their  depths. 

"There  is  someone  I  want  especially  to  ask  you 
about,"  she  said.  "It  is  Nore." 

Hjalmar  knocked  his  pipe  against  the  side  of  the 
boat  and  looked  down  at  Audrey.  "Nore,"  he  re- 
peated, "Nore !"  He  was  obviously  surprised  and 
gazed  silently  at  the  little  red  and  white  clad  figure, 
in  the  sand  at  his  feet.  "Nore !"  he  said  again. 
Audrey  nodded. 

"I  saw  Nore  sailing  by,  far  below  me,  when  I 
stood  with  Valfried  on  the  rocks,  the  very  first 
evening  I  was  here,  and  I  thought  right  away  that  I 
would  like  to  have  him  for  a  comrade." 

Hjalmar  knocked  his  pipe  against  the  side  of  the 
boat  again  and  put  it  in  his  pocket,  then  he  stood  up. 
"You  would  be  friend  with  a  fisher  boy?"  he  asked. 
Audrey  nodded.  "Yes,  with  Nore,"  she  answered. 

There  was  a  bewildered  look  in  Hjalmar's  eyes. 


5  2  Midsummer 

"I  must  go  to  the  farm  for  the  master's  milk.  He 
will  want  it  when  he  wakes  from  his  nap.  Good 
morning  to  you,  Froken."  He  turned  and  walked 
slowly  down  the  beach  with  a  ponderous  rambling 
gait.  As  he  walked  he  kept  muttering,  "Ja  so, 
ja  so,  ja  so!" 

"Hjalmar,"  protested  Audrey,  calling  after  him. 
"You  haven't  answered  my  questions,  you  haven't 
talked  at  all."  She  sat  gazing  at  him  as  he  made 
his  slow  way  across  the  beach. 

When  Hjalmar  reached  the  corner  that  led  to  the 
farm,  he  looked  back  at  Audrey.  She  was  still  sit- 
ting there  by  the  boat  and  she  was  waving  to  Val- 
fried  and  the  boys,  who  were  running  towards  her. 
For  a  moment  Hjalmar  stood  there  watching  her 
and  as  he  turned  away  he  muttered  to  himself,  uja 
so,  ja  so,  we'll  trust  the  good  God!" 

"The  boys  only  let  me  beat  them,  of  course,  but 
it's  fun,  winning,"  gasped  Valfried,  sitting  down  on 
the  boat  and  fanning  herself  with  her  brown  straw 
hat.  "Oh,  what  a  day  this  is,"  she  went  on.  "It's 
glorious  for  your  Name's  Day,  Audrey,  I'm  so  glad. 
You'll  meet  the  Wicanders  this  afternoon,  I  know 
you'll  like  them,  they're  our  great  friends  and  they 
are  so  wanting  to  me'et  you !" 

"Are  the  Wicanders  really  going  to  Stockholm 
for  midsummer,  too?"  asked  Audrey.  Sven  and 
Bjorn,  who  had  been  having  an  extra  race  of  their 
own  sank  down  breathlessly  on  the  sand,  red  in  the 


The  Name's  Day  53 

face  for  they  had  been  having  a  long  series  of  races 
on  the  beach,  most  of  the  morning. 

"Yes,  of  course,  the  Wicanders  are  coming  and 
they'll  stay  with  us.  What  splendid  fun  it  will  be !" 
answered  Valfried.  "We'll  go  to  Skansen  midsum- 
mer night  and — " 

"Don't  tell  all  we're  going  to  do,  how  like  a  girl 
that  is!"  exclaimed  Bjorn,  throwing  a  great  handful 
of  sand  on  Sven  who  returned  in  kind. 

"Well,  I'll  not  say  another  word  to  Audrey  but  I 
know  Ingeborg  will  want  to  talk  to  you  about  it  all, 
this  afternoon,  Audrey,"  said  Valfried. 

What  an  afternoon  it  was,  there  at  Sunhem,  the 
Zanders's  summer  villa ! 

Ingeborg,  Nils  and  Petrus  Wicander  were  city 
children  whose  parents  had  a  villa  some  way  up  the 
bay.  They  were  great  friends  of  the  Zanders  but  this 
was  the  first  time  they  had  been  at  Sunhem  since  the 
Bradfords  came.  They  had  heard  of  Audrey  and 
Sven  because  Fru.  Zander  and  Valfried  had  spent 
the  day  there,  the  week  before.  It  was  with  the 
greatest  interest  that  they  all  met  that  golden  after- 
noon at  Sunhem.  Audrey  knew  from  the  first  that 
she  was  going  to  like  Ingeborg  very  much  and  the 
young  Swedish  girl  said  right  away  that  she  had 
always  wanted  to  have  an  American  girl  for  a  friend. 

Was  there  ever  a  garden  like  Sunhem ! 

"It's  not  that  it's  more  beautiful  than  any  other, 
but  it  might  be  the  garden  in  a  very  strange  fairy 


54  Midsummer 

tale,"   Audrey   said   to   Ingeborg,    as   they   walked 
around  for  a  little  while,  getting  acquainted. 

One  reason  for  the  strangeness  of  the  garden 
was  the  great  boulders  that  were  scattered  through 
it,  among  the  rose  bushes,  at  the  end  of  a  hedge  of 
hollyhocks,  down  by  the  spring  house.  Everywhere 
they  appeared  suddenly  when  one  least  expected 
them  and  they  were  so  odd  in  shape  and  so  grotesque 
they  almost  frightened  you  if  you  came  upon  them 
too  suddenly,  running  around  a  corner.  To  the 
Bradford  children  they  were  fascinating  beyond 
words  and  after  a  game  of  hide  and  seek,  they  all 
climbed  up  on  one,  a  very  big  scraggly  one,  and  sat 
there  fanning  themselves  while  they  decided  what  to 
do  next.  They  had  all  been  invited  to  spend  the 
afternoon  and  stay  to  dinner,  which  was  to  be  at 
four  o'clock.  The  Sunhem  garden  was  a  wonderful 
place  for  hide  and  seek  and  they  had  had  a  splendid 
game. 

"Hide  and  seek  sounds  such  a  childish  game,  but 
here  in  the  Sunhem  garden  it's  really  more  fascinat- 
ing than  any  game  I've  ever  played,"  laughed 
Audrey. 

"It's  because  of  the  rocks,  of  course,"  Bjorn  said 
as  he  lifted  Astrid  up  higher  on  the  big  boulder. 
"We've  never  grown  tired  of  the  game  here  because 
the  rocks  always  seem  different,  there  is  always  a 
hiding  place  we  never  saw  before." 

"We're  growing  too  old  for  hide  and  seek,  but 


The  Name's  Day  55 

I'll  always  love  it."  Valfried  plaited  her  braid  of 
bright  hair  as  she  spoke.  She  was  very  fair  indeed 
in  her  white  dress  with  some  blue  corn  flowers  at  her 
waist.  Fru  Zander  called  to  them  from  the  draw- 
ing room  window,  "Lillemore  says  you  will  find 
something  to  drink  in  the  tree  hollow." 

"Good  enough,  I'm  thirsty,  aren't  you,  boys?"  ex- 
claimed Nils  Wicander,  a  large,  fair  boy  with  funny 
horn-rimmed  goggles. 

"I  hope  there  is  something  to  eat,  too,"  laughed 
Bjorn,  lifting  Astrid  down  from  the  rock. 

The  tree  grew  very  close  to  the  water,  so  close 
that  its  branches  trailed  over  so  that  they  dipped 
into  the  water.  It  was  a  huge  tree  and  there  was 
a  wooden  platform  built  into  it.  Here  Valfried  and 
Astrid  kept  their  special  treasures.  Bjorn  lifted  up 
little  Astrid  and  Petrus  Wicander  who  was  so  very 
short  and  fat  that  he  never  could  have  climbed  up 
himself.  "I  wish  we  could  do  something  once  in  a 
while  without  having  the  children  along,  we  can 
never  get  rid  of  Astrid  for  a  second,  she's  always 
around,"  muttered  Bjorn  to  Audrey  as  he  helped  her 
up  into  the  hollow. 

The  girls  managed  to  squeeze  onto  the  platform 
and  the  boys  sat  on  nearby  branches.  Astrid  was 
wedged  in  very  tightly  but  she  was  happy  because  she 
had  a  cooky  in  each  hand.  Lillemore,  the  very  fat 
nurse  of  the  Zanders,  had  left  a  tall  jug  of  fresh  milk 
and  a  large  plate  of  cookies  in  the  hollow  for  the 


56  Midsummer 

children.  They  all  enjoyed  the  refreshment  for  it 
was  an  hour  before  dinner  and  they  had  been  playing 
for  a  long  time. 

"You're  right,  Val,  we're  too  old  for  hide  and 
seek,"  said  Ingeborg  Wicander.  "In  three  years  now 
we'll  be  going  to  the  Cadet  Ball,  perhaps." 

"Oh,  what  a  wonderful  thought!"  exclaimed  Val- 
fried. 

"You  will  wear  pink,  I  hope,  Val,  and  I — Oh,  I'll 
wear  white  or  anything.  It  doesn't  really  matter,  for 
I'm  not  pretty,"  went  on  Ingeborg. 

Audrey  felt  a  little  embarassed  when  Ingeborg 
said  this  for  it  was  true  indeed,  Ingeborg  not  only 
was  not  pretty  but  she  was  quite  unusually  plain. 

"It's  the  same  with  me  if  I  wear  pink  or  blue,  it 
makes  me  look  so  dark  and  queer,"  Audrey  exclaimed 
impulsively.  "I  shall  wear  white  at  my  first  ball  and 
I'll  carry  American  Beauty  roses." 

"What  about  your  hair?  You'll  look  an  odd  sort 
of  young  lady  with  short  hair,"  said  Sven. 

"Oh,  Sven,  how  little  imagination  you  have !  I'll 
have  dusky  hair,  high  on  my  head  and  fastened  with 
a  tortoise  shell  comb,"  answered  Audrey  and  they  all 
laughed. 

"Oh,  let's  talk  sense,"  Bjorn  blurted  out  suddenly, 
in  his  blunt  way.  His  mind  never  strayed  very  far 
from  boats  and  fishing.  "Of  course  it's  your  Name's 
Day,  Audrey,  and  you've  a  right  to  talk  of  anything 
you  like." 


The  Name's  Day  57 

They  laughed  again  at  this,  it  was  easy  to  laugh 
at  almost  anything  there  in  the  tree,  with  sunshine 
all  about  them  and  a  jolly  salt  breeze  coming  in  from 
the  sea. 

"I'll  be  a  cadet  at  the  cadet  school  very  soon  now 
and  then  the  sea  for  me,"  said  Nils  Wicander. 

"I'll  be  one,  too,  some  day,"  piped  up  his  little 
brother  Petrus.  They  laughed  again  at  this,  for 
Petrus  was  so  little  and  fat  and  had  such  a  moon-like 
face  that  the  thought  of  him  in  a  cadet  uniform  was 
very  amusing. 

uNore  Carlson  is  always  on  a  boat  or  in  the  sea, 
he  would  be  a  better  sailor  than  any  of  us,"  said 
Bjorn. 

"The  sea  tells  him  things,  he  sees  pictures  in  the 
sea,"  exclaimed  Audrey.  She  stopped  in  confusion, 
for  she  had  forgotten  that  no  one  knew  of  her 
acquaintance  with  Nore.  Astrid  had  nearly  fallen 
out  of  the  tree  and  so  no  one  noticed  what  she  said 
at  that  moment.  She  was  glad,  for  it  was  sort  of 
fun  just  having  it  a  secret  for  awhile. 

"I'm  going  to  keep  a  Konditori  for  awhile  when 
I  grow  up,"  said  little  Astrid  suddenly.  "Then  I  can 
have  all  the  cakes  I  want  all  the  time."  She  ate  her 
fifth  pepparkakor,  as  the  cookies  were  called,  and 
smiled  sweetly  at  Bjorn  when  he  frowned  at  her, 
saying  disgustedly,  "I'm  ashamed  to  have  Audrey 
and  Sven  see  how  greedy  you  are." 

Old  Hjalmar  opened  the   gate   that  led  to   the 


58  Midsummer 

Zander  villa  and  walked  slowly  around  the  winding 
garden  path.  When  he  saw  the  old  pastor,  the  Zan- 
der children's  grandfather,  sitting  in  the  sun  in  front 
of  the  villa,  he  quickened  his  pace.  The  old  man 
heard  his  step  on  the  path  and  looked  up.  When  he 
saw  Hjalmar  he  smiled  and  motioned  to  a  chair  near 
him  on  the  grass,  but  'Hjalmar  shook  his  head. 

"Good  evening,  pastor." 

"Good  evening,  Hjalmar,  and  welcome  to  you." 

"I've  come  but  for  a  moment,  sir,  and  IVe  nought 
to  say — leastways — I'm  worried  in  my  mind." 

"That's  a  bad  way  to  be.  Could  you  not  tell  me 
your  trouble?"  said  Pastor  Zander.  He  was  very 
old  and  he  had  retired  long  ago  from  his  pastorate 
in  the  south  of  Sweden.  He  had  never  preached  in 
that  part  of  the  country  and  only  came  there  in  the 
summer  with  the  family,  yet  the  people  in  Boo,  the 
nearest  village,  knew  him  well  and  often  brought 
their  troubles  to  him. 

Hjalmar  made  an  odd  figure  in  his  rough  trousers 
and  red  shirt,  his  spectacles  were  somehow  so  out 
of  place  with  the  rest  of  his  appearance. 

There  was  a  moment's  silence  and  then  Hjalmar 
said  slowly: 

"The  young  Froken  has  cheered  the  master  a  bit, 
twice  she  has  made  him  laugh."  Hjalmar  spoke 
wonderingly,  as  though  the  fact  of  his  master's  hav- 
ing actually  laughed  were  beyond  credit. 

The  pastor  nodded.    "She  is  a  bright  child,  she  is 


The  Name's  Day  59 

full  of  the  country  across  the  sea,  a  country,  Hjal- 
mar,  that  you  and  I  will  never  know." 

Hjalmar,  too,  nodded.  He  w&s  slow  thinking 
and  he  could  not  make  his  mind  wander  at  once  to 
America. 

"The  master  is  keen,  you  know;  he  wanHers  at 
times  and  he  broods  over  the  past,  but — I  don't 
know,  maybe  he  thinks  a  good  bit,  yes,  he's  keener 
than  we  know,"  Hjalmar  spoke  as  though  he  were 
thinking  out  loud. 

"I  never  knew  him  in  the  old  days,  Hjalmar,  never 
knew  the  family  until  the  past  few  years,  since  we 
have  come  here  for  our  summers,  but  I  do  feel  that 
there  has  been  trouble  and  sadness  at  the  castle  on 
the  rocks  and  all  in  good  time,  perhaps,  maybe  you 
will  tell  me  of  it  and,  who  knows,  perhaps  I  can  help 
you.  For  whatever  the  trouble  is,  Hjalmar,  it  has 
hurt  you,  too." 

Hjalmar's  face  worked  curiously  for  a  moment, 
he  cleared  his  throat  and  then  spoke  more  cheer- 
fully. 

"Well,  I'll  be  going  on.  I  only  wanted  to  wish  you 
a  pleasant  day,  a  word  with  you  does  cheer  a  body, 
sir."  He  tipped  his  cap  and  started  away  down  the 
path,  then  he  paused  a  moment  and  looked  back. 

"It's  a  big  worry,  one  of  the  gravest  a  man  ever 
had,  sir,"  he  said  and  with  this  remark  he  walked 
slowly  away. 

The  voices  of  the  children  in  the  tree  came  to  the 


60  Midsummer 

old  man  as  he  sat  there  in  the  sun  with  Jacken  at  his 
feet. 

"Our  play  days  are  over,  Jacken,"  he  said  to  the 
dog  and  he  was  right.  Jacken  could  go  for  a  picnic, 
sail  in  the  boat,  comfortably  curled  under  the  seat, 
he  could  sit  at  Astrid's  feet  at  supper  and  devour  the 
choice  bits  that  were  given  him,  but  he  could  not 
enter  into  their  play  as  once  he  had  done,  he  was  too 
old. 

Lillemore  appeared  suddenly  under  the  tree  and 
called  up  that  supper  was  ready.  She  was  so  fat  and 
her  face  was  so  very  red  that  in  her  purple  frock  she 
looked  not  unlike  a  large  purple  plum.  None  of  the 
Zander  children  thought  her  odd  looking,  for  they 
loved  her  dearly  and  were  so  used  to  her  bigness  and 
redness  they  would  not  have  had  her  otherwise. 

Dinner  was  served  outdoors  back  of  the  villa. 
There  was  a  stretch  of  blue  and  gold  sea  in  front 
of  them,  a  .long  table  set  with  white  and  gold  dishes 
was  placed  just  where  one  had  the  best  view  of  the 
sea.  On  the  table  was  a  white  embroidered  cloth 
and  in  the  center  was  a  white  bowl  filled  with  blue 
corn  flowers  and  wild  red  poppies. 

"Oh,  I  love  them,  it's  so  beautiful — the  flowers 
and  everything,"  exclaimed  Audrey,  putting  her  arms 
around  Fru  Zander,  who  escorted  her  to  the  seat  of 
honor,  next  herself,  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

Bjorn  and  Sven  had  carried  out  the  long  green 
benches  from  the  veranda  and  they  all  stood  for  a 


The  Name's  Day  61 

moment  quietly,  as,  at  a  nod  from  her  mother,  little 
Astrid  folded  her  fat  hands,  bowed  her  head  and 
said  a  little  grace. 

Fru  Zander  had  led  Audrey  to  her  seat  but  laugh- 
ingly told  her  she  could  not  sit  down  until  she  had  had 
the  smorgas.  She  gave  her  a  plate  and  gave  one  to 
each  of  the  other  children  and  they  all  went  up  to  a 
side  table  near  the  veranda.  Little  Astrid  was  so 
excited  she  jumped  up  and  down.  Holidays  always 
affected  her  this  way. 

The  long  afternoon  of  play  in  the  salt  air  had 
made  them  very  hungry.  The  side  table  was  covered 
with  plates  of  cheese  and  fish  and  little  hot  omelettes. 
To  Audrey  and  Sven  it  seemed  an  odd  way  to  begin  a 
meal,  standing  up  and  eating  cheese  and  fish  on  the 
hard  grey  Swedish  bread,  but  this  was  the  way  one 
always  did  in  Sweden.  There  were  so  many  kinds  of 
fish  and  cheese  it  was  rather  hard  to  choose,  but  the 
lobster  omelette  was  delicious  and  Sven  enjoyed  a 
mixture  of  anchovy  and  egg  spread  on  the  hard 
bread.  All  this  was  before  the  regular  dinner  began 
and  soon  they  were  seated  each  side  of  the  long  table 
with  Fru  Zander  at  one  end  and  Herr  Zander,  a 
jolly,  stout,  kind-faced  man,  at  the  other.  Two  smil- 
ing maids,  assisted  by  Lillemore,  waited  on  them. 
Jacken  came  and  sat  beside  Audrey  as  though  he 
realized  she  was  the  guest  of  honor.  Astrid  sat  on 
the  other  side  of  Audrey. 

"When  the  efterratt  comes  you're  going  to  have 


62  Midsummer 

presents,  but  don't  say  I  told  you,"  she  whispered 
excitedly  to  Audrey,  who  knew  that  efterratt  meant 
dessert.  She  had  learned  some  Swedish  words  and 
wondered  what  her  American  friends  would  think 
if  they  could  hear  her  say  them. 

"After  all,  it's  my  country  too;  it  seems  strange 
in  some  ways,  but  it's  partly  mine,"  she  thought, 
looking  about  at  the  happy  faces,  at  Fru  Zander, 
very  sweet  and  motherly  in  her  white  gown.  How 
kind  they  were,  all  of  them. 

The  fresh  salmon  was  delicious.  It  was  served 
with  peas  and  carrots,  cooked  together  in  the  Swed- 
ish way,  then  came  crystal  dishes  filled  with  rasp- 
berries and  frozen  cream. 

"Now  the  presents  are  coming,"  whispered  Astrid, 
as  Lillemore  put  a  tray  down  in  front  of  Audrey. 
The  color  rushed  to  Audrey's  face  and  she  sprang 
to  her  feet.  She  looked  very  radiant,  eager,  and 
happy  as  she  stood  there  in  her  white  frock,  the  scar- 
let sash  about  her  waist. 

"Oh,  you  are  all  so  kind,  so  good.  [How  can  I 
thank  you?  You've  all  made  us  feel  at  home  when 
everything  was  so  strange."  She  spoke  impulsively, 
stammering  a  little  in  her  emotion,  and  she  looked  at 
Fru  Zander,  who  smiled  back  at  her  understandingly, 
for  she  realized  that  Audrey  was  having  some  of  the 
things  she  had  missed  in  her  life,  home  and  fun  and 
companionship. 

Bjorn  forgot  to  be  bashful  and  stood  up.    Holding 


The  Name's  Day  63 

his  glass  of  saft,  like  our  raspberry  vinegar  and 
looking  at  Audrey,  he  said : 

"Skoal."  The  word  means  hail  and  it  was  used 
in  the  old  days  by  the  vikings.  They  all  drank 
Audrey's  health  and  looked  at  her  while  she  opened 
her  presents.  Fru  Zander  had  given  her  a  little 
brooch  such  as  the  Lapp  women  wear.  It  had  three 
little  gilded  sprays,  and  it  was  fastened  with  a  clasp, 
underneath.  Audrey  was  charmed  with  it  and  saw 
herself  wearing  it  before  her  especial  girl  friends  in 
New  York.  How  foreign  she  would  look ! 

Astrid  had  made  her  a  white  kerchief  to  wear 
wear  about  her  neck  with  the  Swedish  dress  she  was 
to  buy  when  they  went  to  Stockholm.  They  were 
looking  forward  to  helping  her  pick  it  out.  Astrid 
could  sew  very  nicely,  though  she  was  only  eight 
years  old. 

Valfried's  gift  was  not  done  up  at  all.  It  was  a 
leather  box  and  inside  were  two  bright  cups  and 
saucers,  plates,  knives  and  forks  and  two  blue  and 
white  napkins. 

"It's  for  a  picnic,  when  you  go  off  in  your  boat," 
explained  Valfried. 

"It's  splendid,  thank  you  so  very  much,  Val.  Sven 
will  want  it  for  his  fishing  trips  but  he  can't  have  it, 
I  shall  sail  away  towards  the  sunset  with  it  and  then 
I'll  boil  the  kettle  and  make  some  tea." 

Herr  Zander  laughed  at  this.  "What  a  combina- 
tion of  romance  and  American  practicality  you  are, 


64  Midsummer 

child,"  he  said.  Then  from  his  pocket  he  drew  a  box 
of  candy  which  he  handed  to  Audrey.  He  bowed  in 
the  formal,  rather  stiff  Swedish  way,  as  he  gave  the 
box  to  her. 

Bjorn's  present  was  "Whaling  in  Alaska"  and  it 
seemed  to  greatly  amuse  his  family  that  he  had  given 
the  book  to  Audrey.  "It's  his  favorite  story.  He 
sent  in  to  the  biblioteck  by  father.  He  would  never 
part  with  his  own  copy,"  laughed  Valfried,  as  they 
left  the  table. 

They  all  went  up  to  Fru  Zander  and  kissed  her, 
saying  "Tac  fur  mat,"  which  means  thanks  for  food, 
in  Swedish.  Then  they  danced.  It  was  fun  dancing 
the  clapp  dance,  all  of  them  together.  Finally  Sven 
said  they  ought  to  go  and  Valfried  and  Bjorn  walked 
with  them  to  the  foot  of  the  rocks.  When  Audrey 
had  said  good-bye  to  Fru  Zander,  she  exclaimed: 
"I  love  you  all,  from  Astrid  to  Lillemore.  I  love 
Sunhem !" 

She  stood  watching  the  boys  and  Valfried  as  they 
started  back.  "Sven  and  Bjorn  are  going  off  on 
some  sort  of  escapade,  I'm  sure  of  it.  I  saw  Bjorn 
wink  at  Sven  just  before  he  said  we'd  have  to  be 
going."  Audrey  looked  up  at  the  castle  but  did  not 
seem  to  want  to  go  to  it.  Suddenly  she  saw  a  young 
girl  coming  towards  her.  She  was  carrying  a  heavy 
bundle  and  on  top  of  it  were  balanced  two  smaller 
packages.  One  of  them  fell  off  almost  at  Audrey's 
feet  and  she  stooped  and  picked  it  up. 


The  Name's  Day  65 

The  young  girl  had  a  fresh,  smiling  face.  She 
had  come  suddenly  around  the  corner  of  the  rock 
and  when  she  saw  Audrey  she  grew  very  red  in  the 
face.  She  had  been  walking  quickly  and  she  was  a 
little  overcome  at  meeting  the  young  Froken  from 
the  castle.  Audrey  smiled  at  her.  She  bent  over  and 
put  her  presents  under  the  curve  of  a  rock,  all 
except  the  box  of  candy.  This  she  held  out  to  the 
newcomer.  "Have  some,"  she  said,  and  the  girl 
took  a  chocolate  a  little  timidly,  making  a  courtesy 
which  in  Sweden  is  called  a  niga. 

"Thank  you,  Froken,"  she  said.  "You  are  indeed 
kind.  We  seldom  need  provision  from  Boo,  but  to- 
night I  went  there  on  the  boat  and  alas  I  missed  the 
one  back  that  would  have  taken  me  to  our  side  of  the 
bay.  Now  I  do  not  know  what  I  shall  do!"  She 
smiled  her  shy  smile  and  did  not  seem  very  much 
put  out  at  her  predicament. 

"Is  it  just  across  the  bay?  Why,  I  can  row  you 
over.  I'd  love  to,  I  love  being  out  on  the  bay."  She 
nodcjed  up  at  the  castle  that  towered  above  them. 

"I'm  staying  there  with  my  grandfather,"  she 
added. 

"The  young  Froken  from  the  castle!"  gasped  the 
girl  with  the  bundles.  "Pardon,  Froken,  you  could 
not  mean  that  you  would  row  me  across.  No,  no,  I 
could  not  permit  it,  I  shall  do  quite  well,  I  can  wait. 
Soon  my  brother,  who  is  a  fisher  lad,  will  return  and 
then  he  will  come  to  look  for  me."  The  girl  spoke 


66  Midsummer 

excitedly  and  in  Swedish  and  Audrey  did  not  under- 
stand very  much  that  she  said  but  she  did  catch  the 
words  ''brother"  and  "fisher  boy,"  and  she  asked  the 
young  girl  eagerly:  "Are  you  Nore  Carlson's 
sister?" 

"Surely,  yes,  Froken,  Nore  has  spoken  of  you 
and  your  brother  and  old  Hjalmar  whom  they  knew 
well  and  who  spent  his  Saturday  evenings  with  them. 
He  too  has  spoken  of  the  young  Froken  and  her 
brother." 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  just  what  I'll  do,  I'll  row  you 
over  and  we'll  give  this  candy  to  little  Thure.  Oh, 
you  see  I  know  the  names  of  every  one  of  you.  I'm 
tired  of  the  thought  of  anything  sweet,  you  see  I've 
had  a  Name's  Day  party  at  the  Zanders." 

She  put  the  bundle  she  had  picked  up,  on  top  of 
the  candy  box  and  in  spite  of  the  other's  protests 
she  took  her  by  the  arm  and  ran  with  her  down  to 
the  shore  where  the  white  rowboat  rocked  invitingly. 

"Hop  in,"  she  cried  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  two 
girls  and  the  bundles  were  started  out  across  the  bay. 
"I  call  this  boat  'The  Swan,'  because  it's  white  and 
because  I  like  the  swan  boat  in  an  opera  called 
'Lohengrin,'  "  said  Audrey  gayly,  smiling  at  Marta 
who  sat  opposite  her  and  whose  round  good-natured 
face  fairly  beamed  with  pleasure.  "What  would 
they  say  at  home,  what  would  they  think  to  see  her 
being  rowed  across  the  bay  by  one  of  the  castle  chil- 
dren !  Indeed  it  was  an  adventure !  Could  she  ever 


The  Name's  Day  67 

be  thankful  enough  that  she  had  missed  the  other 
boat!"  These  were  some  of  Marta's  thoughts  as 
she  sat  quietly  in  the  stern  of  the  boat. 

The  young  Froken  was  very  talkative,  her  Swed- 
ish was  a  little  strange  but  what  could  one  expect, 
she  had  so  lately  come  from  America.  Did  she 
like  going  to  school  in  Boo  ?  Yes,  but  next  winter  she 
hoped  she  could  stay  home  and  help  her  mother  with 
the  weaving,  but  Nore  said  she  must  have  schooling. 
Nore  read  to  them  at  night  in  winter.  Yes,  it  was 
cold,  they  all  kept  close  to  the  fire.  "We  keep  close 
to  our  mother,  we  all  huddle  up  close  to  her,  and 
Nore  reads  and  then  we  have  something  hot  to 
drink  and  then  we  go  to  bed,"  she  told  Audrey,  an- 
swering her  questions  as  well  as  she  could  under- 
stand them. 

The  row  was  nearly  over,  already  they  could  see 
several  figures  close  to  the  shore,  evidently  watch- 
ing them. 

"It's  Karl  and  Thure.  Yes,  and  there  is  Nore,  he 
must  have  just  come  home,  see  he  is  dragging  in  the 
nets !"  "Oh,  ho,"  she  called,  her  young  voice  ring- 
ing through  the  still  air.  There  was  an  answering 
shout  and  Karl  ran  out  towards  them  through  the 
water.  He  was  barefooted  and  his  laughter  as  he 
splashed  the  water,  sounded  very  loud  and  it  echoed 
down  the  beach. 

Marta   sprang  out  and  before  she  had  finished 
shoving  in  the  boat,  Nore  had  reached  her  and  gave 


68  Midsummer 

one  quick  pull  which  brought  it  high  up  on  the  beach. 
He  was  bare-headed  and  his  rough  fishing  clothes 
were  dripping  with  water  and  seaweed.  He  smiled 
at  Audrey  but  he  did  not  hold  out  his  hands  except 
to  look  at  them  ruefully  and  shake  his  head.  "They 
are  fishy,  you  see,  Froken — Oh,  I'm  always  with  the 
fish,  you  see;  I'm  not  fit  for  human  beings."  He,  too, 
laughed  happily  and  little  Thure  threw  her  arms 
about  Audrey  before  she  was  even  introduced. 
Audrey  knelt  beside  her  on  the  beach  and  put  her 
arms  around  the  little  quaint  figure  in  her  odd 
shrunken  blue  dress  with  its  quaint  neck-piece  of  red 
cotton.  She  had  fair  hair  which  was  almost  white 
and  like  Astrid's,  it  stuck  out  each  side  of  her  face. 

"See  what  I've  brought  to  you  and  Karl,  yes,  to 
you  all,  it  is  a  nice  big  box  of  candy.  We  could  not 
eat  it  at  the  party  because  we  had  so  many  goodies," 
she  said,  hugging  little  Thure  close  to  her. 

"But  come,  please,  that  we  may  thank  you  and  that 
you  may  do  my  mother  the  honor  of  making  her 
acquaintance,  Froken,"  begged  Marta  and  so  they 
walked  up  the  rocky  way  to  the  hut,  little  Thure 
clinging  to  her  hand,  Marta  on  one  side  and  the 
boys  coming  behind  with  the  bundles. 

Someone  appeared  suddenly  in  the  doorway  of 
the  little  fishing  hut.  It  was  Fru  Carlson  who  had 
been  taking  down  some  clothes  from  the  line  at  the 
back  of  the  cottage.  She  stood  there  in  the  door- 
way with  them  flung  across  her  arm,  she  wore  a 


The  Name's  Day  69 

faded  grey  print  dress,  her  face  seemed  oddly  white 
as  she  stood  there  in  the  glaring  light  of  the  sunset. 
It  was  a  strong  face,  weatherbeaten  by  cares  and 
sorrows  as  well  as  by  the  storms  that  had  always 
raged  about  her  home.  When  she  saw  Audrey  in  the 
midst  of  her  children,  coming  towards  her,  she  stood 
still  as  though  in  great  astonishment. 

Nore  reached  her  first,  putting  his  hand  on  her 
arm,  as  though  protecting  her  from  something,  he 
knew  not  what.  "See,  dear  mother,  the  Froken  from 
the  castle,  who  in  her  great  kindness  rowed  poor 
Marta  over  across  the  bay.  Marta  lost  the  boat  for 
our  side  and  would  still  be  waiting  over  the  bay  had  it 
not  been  for  the  young  Froken." 

"You  are  indeed  welcome  here,  Froken,  and  do 
know  that  with  my  heart  I  thank  you  for  your 
thoughtfulness.  Come,  a  chair,  Marta,  put  it  just  in- 
side the  door  so  that  the  Froken  can  have  the  air; 
it  is  so  full  of  fish  I  fear,  the  room  is  full  of  it."  Fru 
Carlson  twisted  her  apron  together  nervously  and 
Nore  looked  at  her  in  wonder,  he  had  never  seen  his 
mother  like  this,  she  was  always  so  calm,  so  pos- 
sessed. "No  lady  has  more  calmness  than  my 
mother,"  he  had  so  often  thought.  She  was  look- 
ing tired,  the  mother,  she  had  seemed  sadly  worried 
of  late. 

They  all  clustered  around  Audrey  as  she  sat  in 
the  doorway.  Nore  brought  a  chair  for  his  mother 
and  the  children  sat  about  on  the  stone  doorstep 


7o 


Midsummer 


and  on  a  log  that  lay  near  the  door.  In  front  of 
them  was  the  sleeping  silver  sea,  touched  here  and 
there  with  crimson  and  mauve. 

Audrey  talked  mostly,  using  her  Swedish  as  best 
she  could,  appealing  often  to  Nore  for  the  right 
word,  and  very  often  becoming  so  mixed  up  that  she 
had  to  stop  entirely.  Karl  had  read  about  a  circus 
in  a  paper  that  one  of  the  summer  visitors  had  given 
him,  and  he  had  asked  Audrey  about  it.  She  had  at 
once  plunged  into  a  description  of  the  circus  at  Mad- 
ison Square  Garden  in  New  York,  and  the  children 
had  listened,  trying  to  understand. 

Audrey  finally  threw  back  her  head  and  laughed. 
"I  can  never  make  them  understand  about  the  ele- 
phants. Do  tell  them,  Nore,  tell  them  it  is  true,  I've 
seen  twenty-five  elephants  all  dancing  in  a  row." 

The  children  listened  in  awed  silence,  even  Fru 
Carlson  seemed  impressed.  "You  see,  Froken,  the 
children  have  never  been  anywhere,  they  know  only 
here,  they  have  not  seen,  oh,  there  are  many  things 
that  they  have  not  seen — but  Nore,  he  reads  and 
reads."  She  turned  towards  her  oldest  boy  as  she 
spoke  and  her  voice  deepened. 

"Mother  knows  a  great  deal,  she  taught  school 
when  she  was  young  and  she  knows  English  well, 
does  she  not?"  There  was  pride  in  Nore's  voice 
as  he  spoke. 

"And  Nore  is  going  to  Stockholm,  for  midsum- 
mer," put  in  little  Thure  but  Audrey  did  not  hear 


The  Name's  Day  71 

her  because  Fru  Carlson  had  spoken  to  her  at  the 
same  minute. 

"You  find  the  castle  a  happy  place,  Froken?"  she 
asked.  Audrey  shook  her  head.  "It  is  the  saddest 
place  I've  ever  seen  and  yet  I  can't  quite  tell  why. 
Oh,  I  wish  you  were  all  there  to  play  with  me !"  She 
turned  towards  the  children  as  she  spoke,  then  she 
held  out  her  hand  to  Fru  Carlson.  "Goodnight  and 
it's  been  so  good  to  see  you  all,"  she  said.  Fru 
Carlson  gave  a  niga  and  answered  her  gently: 

"You  have  honored  us,  Froken,  will  you  accept 
my  thanks  for  the  kindness  you  showed  to  my  Marta. 
Come,  boys,  take  the  other  boat  and  see  the  Froken 
home,"  she  said  turning  to  the  others. 

"May  we  go,  mother,  Thure  and  I?"  asked 
Marta. 

"Yes,  if  you  return  at  once.  Go  then,  it  is  late  for 
the  Froken  to  be  out,  they  may  worry  at  the  castle." 
She  stood  in  the  doorway  watching  them,  Nore  and 
Thure  and  Audrey  in  one  boat  and  Marta  and  Karl 
in  the  other. 

"Good-night,  Karl,  good-night,  Marta  and  Nore, 
good-night,  little  Thure.  Thank  you  for  seeing  me 
across,  it's  been  a  wonderful  day,  my  first  Name's 
Day,  wonderful,  good-night  all  of  you,  see  you  soon, 
good-night." 


CHAPTER  6 

Hjalmar's  Story 

THE  first  thing  in  the  morning,  when  she  woke, 
Audrey  thought  of  the  day  before  at  Sunhem,  the 
fun  they  had  had,  all  of  them  together,  the  sunshine, 
the  hide  and  seek  in  the  garden,  the  talk  in  the  tree 
while  they  ate  the  pepparkakor,  the  wind  and  flow- 
ers, Fru  Zander  in  her  white  gown,  the  dinner  out 
of  doors,  the  presents,  then  meeting  Marta,  the  row 
across,  the  meeting  with  Fru  Carlson. 

"She  was  polite  and  kind  but  she  didn't  ask  me 
to  come  again.  She  wasn't  very  glad  to  see  me.  Oh, 
I  do  wish  she  had  asked  me  to  come  again !"  Audrey 
slapped  her  hair  rather  vigorously  with  her  brush 
and  then  ran  down  to  breakfast.  There  were  off  for 
Stockholm  in  a  few  days  and  she  wanted  to  talk  to 
Sven  about  a  number  of  things. 

It  grew  quite  cold  in  the  afternoon  and  for  the 
first  time  since  the  children  came  the  sky  was  grey. 
"This  is  the  coldest  place  I  ever  saw.  Do  you  know 
what  I'm  going  to  do,  Sven?  I'm  going  to  ask  Val- 
fried  to  come  over  and  we  can  go  down  to  the  kitch- 
en and  make  fudge,  Val  has  never  tasted  it,  old 

72 


Hjalmar's  Story  73 

Margot  isn't  a  bad  soul,  she  won't  mind,"  said 
Audrey  as  the  two  stood  in  the  great  hall. 

"All  right,  but  I  bet  grandfather  would  be  hot. 
He  doesn't  want  people  coming  here  and  you  know 
it.  No  one  ever  does  come.  They  don't  like  com- 
pany, either  of  them.  It's  a  wonder  they  ever  let 
us  come,"  answered  Sven. 

"Grandfather  doesn't  need  to  know  about  it.  His 
gout  bothers  him  and  he's  gone  to  bed.  I'll  tell 
Greta  that  I'm  going  to  ask  Val  and  I  know  she  will 
she  will  be  glad,  she's  a  dear,  she's  just  too  timid, 
that's  all." 

"Of  course  ask  Valfried  if  you  like,  Audrey  lilla," 
Xante  Greta  that  I'm  going  to  ask  Val  and  I  know 
phoned  over  to  Sunhem. 

"Hello,  Val,  it's  Audrey.  Can  you  come  over  to 
make  fudge  to-night?  Xante  Greta  has  to  stay  with 
grandfather,  he  has  gout,  so  you  come  over  and  we'll 
ask  Margot  if  we  can  make  fudge."  Xhe  last  was  in 
a  whisper. 

"You  can  come?    Dandy!" 

Sven  whispered  close  to  the  receiver:  "Have 
Bjorn  come  for  you,  early,  and  then  he  can  stay  on." 

Audrey  rang  off  and  then  made  straight  for  the 
kitchen.  She  ran  down  the  steep  stone  steps  and  on 
through  an  archway  into  the  biggest  room  she  had 
almost  ever  seen.  It  had  a  built-in  stone  fireplace 
at  one  end  and  great  flames  leaped  and  roared  in  it. 
Xhe  room  in  spite  of  its  size  was  quite  warm.  Xherc 


74  Midsummer 

were  woven  rugs  on  its  stone  floor,  and  warm  cur- 
tains at  the  windows.  A  fat  woman  with  black  curls 
each  side  of  her  face  looked  up  as  Audrey  ran  in. 
She  was  Margot  the  cook.  She  put  her  hands 
on  her  hips  and  surveyed  Audrey  in  some  astonish- 
ment. 

"What  brings  you  here  then,  Froken  Audrey?" 
she  inquired.  Audrey  danced  about  the  big  room 
and  up  to  Margot.  "I  was  lonesome,  Valfried  is 
coming  over  and  I  thought  perhaps  if  we  are  very 
careful,  you  would  let  us  make  some  fudge." 

"Fudge,  what  then  can  that  be,  Froken?" 

"It's  a  kind  of  candy  we  make  in  America.  We'll 
wash  up  the  pans  and  leave  everything  in  perfect 
order,  do  say  we  can  have  the  kitchen  to-night,  it's 
such  a  good  time  for  making  candy!" 

Margot  could  not  make  out  all  that  Audrey  said, 
but  she  was  good  natured  and  she  was  going  out  for 
the  evening  with  Magnus,  the  Zander's  gardener, 
to  whom  she  was  betrothed.  Margot  was  named 
after  the  wife  of  a  French  cobbler,  a  distant  relative, 
but  her  name  was  the  only  French  thing  about  her. 
She  was  large,  like  Lillemore,  but  she  did  not 
have  the  latter's  temperament,  nothing  disturbed 
her. 

"Yes,  cook  what  you  will,  your  American  sweets 
are  bad  they  say,  bad  for  the  digestion,  but  do  as 
you  will.  I  shall  be  out  with  my  Magnus.  We  are 
going  to  have  mulled  wine  and  sweet  cakes  at  the 


Hjalmar's  Story  75 

home  of  Inge  Neilson  who  is  housekeeper  to  the 
pastor  at  Boo.  We  shall  not  be  back  until  it  is  very 
late." 

"Go  and  phone  Bjorn  to  come  right  along  with 
Valfried,  I  wish  Nils  and  Ingeborg  were  here." 
Audrey  danced  about  the  kitchen  again  and  then  be- 
gan to  explore  the  pantry,  Margot  having  taken  her- 
self upstairs  to  make  ready  for  her  evening's  enter- 
tainment. 

"We  can  make  toffy  too,  I  found  some  molasses, 
Margot  uses  it  for  pepparkarkor.  Here's  butter, 
just  grease  the  pans,  Val.  Now  boys,  why  don't  you 
help  too?  Margot  gave  me  some  nuts,  you  might 
crack  and  shell  them.  They'll  be  good  in  the  fudge 
and  in  the  toffy,"  said  Audrey  later  after  Valfried 
and  Bjorn  had  been  quietly  let  in  a  side  door,  way 
downstairs,  the  one  leading  to  the  kitchens. 

"This  is  fun,  aren't  you  clever,  Audrey!  I  didn't 
know  you  could  cook  so  well.  Bjorn,  don't  just  stand 
around,  do  as  Audrey  says,  begin  to  crack  the  nuts. 
Oh  this  apron  of  Margot's  is  so  funny,  it  just  swal- 
lows me  up !"  exclaimed  Valfried,  greasing  the  pans 
with  vigor. 

"Here  are  three  more,  I'm  going  to  make  the 
boys  each  wear  them,  I  know  Sven,  he  will  smear 
molasses  all  over  him,  otherwise."  Valfried  shrieked 
with  laughter  as  Audrey  tied  a  huge  green  and  blue 
checked  apron  about  Bjorn's  neck.  "He  wouldn't 
wear  that  for  one  second  at  home,"  she  laughed  as 


y  6  Midsummer 

she  watched  Audrey  pour  the  milk  for  the  fudge 
into  a  big  sauce  pan. 

There  were  heavy  foot-steps  outside  and  the  next 
moment  old  Hjalmar  appeared  in  the  doorway.  He 
stood  on  the  threshold  of  the  kitchen  gazing  in 
amazement  at  the  sight  that  met  his  eyes.  Bjorn 
and  Sven,  with  Margot's  aprons  tied  about  their 
necks,  cracking  nuts ;  Valf ried  and  Audrey  busy  over 
the  fire  and  already  a  savory  odor  in  the  air. 

"Ja  so,  ja  so,"  he  ejaculated.  uja  so,  ja  so,  ja  so  1" 
jahso!"  ' 

Audrey  turned  and  waved  at  him  from  her  post 
by  the  stove. 

"Come  and  join  the  party — Hjalmar,  you're  just 
the  one  we  want  and  pretty  soon  you  can  have  some 
of  the  best  fudge  you  ever  tasted.  Sit  down  and  wait 
and  Oh  Hjalmar,  tell  us  some  stories." 

"Come  on,  do,  Hjalmar,"  coaxed  Valfried  and 
the  boys  put  in  a  hearty,  "Come  ahead,  Hjalmar!" 

The  old  seaman  regarded  them  silently,  then  he 
gave  a  low  chuckle. 

"You  do  seem  outlandish  to  be  down  here." 
Hjalmar's  English  was  strange  at  times.  "It  do  be 
queer,  this  old  place  ain't  seen  anything  like  you  be- 
fore, no,  by  the  sun  and  stars  it  ain't — not  even 
when — not  even  in  the  old  days." 

"A  story,  Hjalmar.  Sit  here  now  by  the  fire, 
there's  room  at  this  side.  Boys,  are  the  nuts  ready? 
That's  it,  I  want  them  now.  Hjalmar,  you  must  pay 


Hjalmar's  Story  77 

for  the  wonderful  candy  you  are  to  have,  when  it's 
ready,  by  telling  us  a  story  now !" 

"What  about?"  queried  the  old  man,  sitting  down 
in  Margot's  most  comfortable  chair.  He  put  his 
hand  in  his  pocket  for  his  pipe,  glanced  at  Audrey, 
and  brought  it  out  empty. 

"Hjalmar  wants  to  smoke,  he  won't  be  any  good 
for  a  story  unless  he  has  a  smoke,  will  you, 
Hjalmar?"  asked  Sven. 

"Smoke  away  then,"  ordered  Audrey,  and  very 
soon  there  was  another  odor  mingled  with  the  boil- 
ing molasses  and  the  simmering  fudge. 

"Tell  about  some  of  your  travels,  Hjalmar,"  sug- 
gested Valfried,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  table  and 
watching  Audrey  as  she  let  the  chocolate  drip  from 
the  spoon  to  see  if  the  mixture  was  done. 

"It's  not  ready  yet,  it  doesn't  string.  Yes,  do  tell 
about  your  travels  when  you  used  to  sail  all  over  the 
world,  Hjalmar,"  she  urged. 

The  others,  excepting  Audrey,  who  had  still  to 
watch  her  cooking,  sat  up  on  the  huge  kitchen  table 
and  prepared  to  listen.  Just  then  there  was  a  loud 
mew  outside  the  door  and  Audrey  flew  to  open  it. 
"It's  dear  little  Smorgas,"  she  said,  catching  the  thin 
grey,  rather  scrawny  animal  up  in  her  arms  and  hug- 
ging her.  Hjalmar  frowned  and  the  others  laughed. 

"Of  all  the  forlorn  objects,  Audrey,  that  cat  cer- 
tainly is  the  worst,"  exclaimed  Valfried. 

"It  is  bad,  bad  indeed,  Froken,  to  have  so  poor 


7  8  Midsummer 

a  creature  about,  a  cat,  bah,  a  cat!"  The  contempt 
in  Hjalmar's  voice  was  enormous.  Audrey  put  the 
kitten  down  gently,  giving  it  a  little  pat,  then  she 
poured  out  a  saucer  of  creamy  milk  and  placed  it 
in  front  of  the  little  animal. 

"You  ought  to  be  ashamed  not  to  like  cats,  they're 
the  dearest  things  in  the  world  almost.  Yes,  they  are, 
they're  adorable.  Magnus  gave  me  this  one,  he  found 
it  when  it  was  half  starving.  I'd  think  Sweden  was 
even  nicer  than  I  do  now,  if  you  liked  cats;  you 
ought  to,  anyway,  Hjalmar.  All  sailors  are  sup- 
posed to  think  the  world  of  them,"  she  added,  turn- 
ing to  look  reproachfully  at  the  old  sailor  who  nod- 
ded and  said  gruffly,  "That's  true  enough,  it's  true 
enough !" 

"Your  fudge  will  burn,"  warned  Sven.  Audrey 
rushed  to  the  stove,  rescued  the  candy  and  poured 
it  into  the  pans  that  Valfried  had  greased  for  her. 

"Put  them  outside,  boys,  and  wait,  cover  them 
with  these  tins.  That's  it." 

When  the  boys  came  back,  Audrey,  too,  sat  on  a 
corner  of  the  table  to  rest  and  to  wait  for  the  toffy 
to  be  ready  to  pull,  and  again  they  begged  Hjalmar 
for  a  story.  He  pulled  several  long  puffs  on  his 
pipe  and  then  he  said,  speaking  in  his  usual  slow, 
gruff  way: 

"I  know  a  funny  tale,  a  queer  one,  aye."  He  was 
silent  again,  looking  dreamily  into  the  hot  bed  of 
coals  in  front  of  him. 


H]almarys  Story  79 

"Tell  it,  go  ahead,"  urged  Sven. 

"Yes,  do,  please,"  put  in  Audrey.  "All  the  tales 
you've  told  me  so  far  are  queer,  Hjalmar,  but  they 
are  splendid." 

"This  one  is  the  really  strange  one,  Froken,"  he 
said  slowly.  "Strange,"  he  added.  "Strange,"  he 
repeated  again.  Then  he  settled  himself  comfort- 
ably, pulled  at  his  rough  grey  beard,  and  began  his 
story: 

"It  was  my  first  long  travel,  what  is  the  word?" 

"Voyage,  I  guess  you  mean,"  put  in  Sven. 

"It  was  my  first  voyage  and  we  had  calm  waters 
for  weeks  and  weeks.  It  was  good,  aye,  good,  we 
had  plenty  to  eat  and  because  of  no  storms  we  hadn't 
so  bad  work.  The  first  mate  was  a  fine  man,  so  were 
most  all  the  officers  and  it  was  the  only  travel  I  ever 
had  where  we  knew  them,  those  above  us,  knew  them 
so  as  to  have  speech  outside  of  just  taking  orders. 
Yes,  it  was  always  different,  that  one  time.  There 
was  one  officer  that  I  knew  quite  well,  the  first  mate, 
he  had  almost  broke  his  leg  by  an  accident.  I  was 
near  and  pulled  him  out,  'twas  nothin',  nothin'." 
Hjalmar  waved  his  hand  deprecatingly  as  Bjorn 
said,  "Good  for  you,  Hjalmar." 

"Well,  this  young  mate,  he  was  a  gentleman,  he 
came  from  good  family  in  England.  Oh  yes,  he  had 
good  smile  and  good  voice,  he  gave  me  little  drink 
sometimes.  Oh  not  much,  not  much,  nothing  to  hurt. 
I  was  young,  I  was  steady — but  the  young  gentleman 


8o  Midsummer 

— I  fear,  yes,  once  in  a  great  while  he  was  little  too 
fond  of  spirits.  It  was  all  there  was  against  him,  he 
was  a  fine  young  man.  I  tell  you  about  that  for  may- 
be that  was  why,  maybe  that  was  reason  why  he  saw 
what  he  did — but  I  dunno — I  just  dunno,  maybe  not, 
sometimes  I  think  yes,  sometimes  I  think  no." 
Hjalmar  puffed  at  his  pipe  and  Audrey  said  as  pa- 
tiently as  she  could: 

uDo  go  on,  Hjalmar,  you're  getting  us  interested, 
hurry  up  a  little." 

Hjalmar  glanced  at  her  reproachfully. 

"One  night  one  of  the  sailors  says  to  me :  *A 
storm  before  morninY  and  sure  enough!  We  paid 
for  our  fine  weather,  yes,  sir,  we  paid — storm,  why 
it  was  nothin'  earthly  nor  yet  heavenly,  I  dunno  what 
it  was — the  shrieking  and  the  howling,  just  like 
voices.  Yes,  yes,  I  had  no  sleep  until  late  the  next  day. 
Things  was  better  and  the  wind  was  dying  fast.  I'd 
fell  to  sleep  when  a  voice  woke  me,  it  was  the  first 
mate.  'Hjalmar,'  says  he,  'is  you  awake?'  'I  be  now, 
sir,'  says  I,  'what  is  it,  sir?'  Then  he  told  me,  I 
can't  give  it  to  you  in  his  words,  you'll  have  to  take 
mine,  here's  his  story: 

"We  sat  long  over  dinner  for  as  you  know, 
Hjalmar,  the  storm  came  suddenly  and  though  we 
did  suspect  it  some  we  thought  little  of  it's  coming 
so  soon.  We  had  a  great  talk,"  and— Hjalmar 
paused,  "an  argument  was  what  he  said.  It  all  be- 
gan because  of  the  captain's  friend  sailing  with  us. 


Hjalmar's  Story  81 

He  was  an  American  and  during  dinner  the  captain 
himself,  who  was  a  Norwegian,  said  something  as 
to  America  being  found  first  by  the  Vikings.  Then 
Hjalmar,  he  says,  you  should  have  heard  the — the" 

"Discussion,"  put  in  Sven.  "But  of  course  the 
Vikings  didn't  discover  America." 

"Of  course  they  did,  why  Sven,  you  must  know 
that.  They  called  it  Vinland.  Leif,  the  son  of  Red 
Eirik,  discovered  it,  he  and  his  men — he." 

"I  tell  you  he  did  not,  Columbus  discovered 
America."  Sven  had  grown  red  in  the  face  and  his 
eyes  were  like  two  blue  sparks.  Audrey  looked  at 
him  uneasily.  Sven  was  seldom  roused  but  he  had 
a  hot  temper  when  once  it  came  to  the  surface. 

"The  toffy's  ready.  Come  on,  boys,  it  will  be  great 
fun  pulling  it.  Here  you  are,  go  ahead,  never  mind 
about  who  discovered  America  a  million  years  or 
so  ago.  Sorry  your  story  was  interrupted,  Hjalmar, 
you  can  go  on,  now,  if  you  will,  we're  really  very 
interested."  Audrey  pulled  her  brother  unceremon- 
iously off  the  table.  "Wash  your  hands  quickly,  both 
'of  you,  at  the  sink.  Hurry  for  the  toffy  must  be 
pulled  at  once." 

The  two  boys  could  not  help  but  smile  over  the 
toffy  pulling,  but  Sven  repeated:  "Columbus  dis- 
covered America,"  and  Bjorn,  who  was  not  at  all 
put  out,  but  just  his  usual  slow  calm  self,  replied: 

"Don't  be  stupid,  Sven,  it's  not  what  I  think,  it's 
history.  The  Vikings  discovered  America  in  986!" 


82  Midsummer 

"Be  still,  Bjorn,  how  stubborn  you  are.  Do  go  on, 
Hjalmar,  I  so  want  to  know  what  the  young  officer 
told  you  about  the  night  of  the  storm."  Valfried 
smiled  at  Hjalmar,  looking  not  unlike  a  Viking's 
daughter,  herself,  in  her  white  dress  and  with  the 
long  golden  braids  falling  each  side  of  her  face. 

Hjalmar  was  not  at  all  put  out  at  the  interrup- 
tion. He  chuckled  to  himself  and  slapped  his  knee, 
once  or  twice  as  the  boys  were  disputing  and  he 
looked  at  Sven  as  though  he  rather  liked  his  spirit. 
Then  he  sighed  and  stirred  uneasily  in  his  chair,  gaz- 
ing off,  across  the  bay,  through  the  kitchen  window 
which  was  opposite  him.  There  was  in  his  eyes  the 
look  that  the  old  pastor  had  seen,  the  look, of  deep 
perplexity. 

"Do  go  on,"  urged  Sven  and  Bjorn  together  and 
so  Hjalmar  started  once  more. 

"I  tell  the  rest  my  own  way,  I'll  not  try  to  tell  it 
like  the  young  first  mate.  His  speech  was  fine  and  his 
voice  was  soft  and  his  words  were  beautiful,  like 
reading  poetry." 

"What  did  he  tell  you?    Hurry!"  begged  Audrey. 

"He  told  me  this  strange  story.  First  his  speech 
was  of  the  dinner  and  the  talk  about  discovering 
America.  There  was  hot  talk,  too,  just  like  the  young 
master  and  you,  Master  Bjorn,  but  the  captain  he 
kept  to  what  first  he  said  and  like  you,  Master  Bjorn, 
he  gave  the  date,  also  he  spoke  of  Leif.  It  was  all 
in  good  part.  They  sat  late  at  wine  and  those  who 


Hjalmar's  Story  83 

were  passengers,  and  they  were  enough,  slept  well 
I  daresay;  but  the  first  mate  and  we,  the  sailors,  aye, 
and  the  captain,  that  was  a  night  for  us !  The  mate 
told  me  that  towards  morning  when  things  had 
calmed  a  bit,  he  tried  to  cross  the  decks ;  he  had  tied 
a  rope  around  his  waist  and  he  was  making  slow 
way.  There  was  something  to  say  to  them  that  was 
aft  and  he  was  doing  his  best.  Sudden,  he  says  he 
saw  a  light  as  gold  as  the  sun,  only  different,  and 
then  he  saw— yes,  this  is  what  he  swears  he  saw — 
a  ship,  a  long  ship,  half  decked,  with  sails  of  green 
and  yellow  and  red.  The  boat,  as  he  stared  at  it, 
dipped  down,  down  into  the  great  waves,  but  when 
it  rose  up  again  he  saw  the  red  and  black  shields 
that  hung  outside  the  gunwhale  and  the  prow  was 
carved  and  painted  of  the  brightest  colors.  It  was  a 
mighty  sight,  he  said,  a  strange  one  for  mortal 
eyes !" 

"A  Viking  ship,"  gasped  Bjorn. 

"Aye,  just  that  and  more.  Strange  men  were  on  its 
decks,  men  with,  what's  the  word — helmets  and 
spears,  men  in  long  scarlet  mantles.  He  stared  and 
stared  and  then  quite  sudden  they  were  no  more 
there — gone  where  or  how,  he  could  not  tell." 
Hjalmar  was  silent,  drawing  long  puffs  from  his 
favorite  pipe. 

"What  do  you  think,  Hjalmar,  was  it  a  dream?" 
asked  Audrey. 

"Maybe!" 


84  Midsummer 

"Do  you  think  the  first  mate  had  had  a  drop  too 
much?  I  do/'  exclaimed  Sven. 

"Maybe!" 

"A  Viking  ship,"  repeated  Bjorn,  more  impressed 
by  the  tale  than  any  of  the  others. 

"What  do  you  think,  what  do  you  really  think 
about  it,  Hjalmar?"  Audrey  asked  him  earnestly. 

Hjalmar  puffed  slowly.  "I'd  best  be  keeping  my 
thoughts  quiet  and  to  myself.  Where's  the  sweets, 
little  Froken?  I  want  my  pay  for  the  story." 

The  evening  ended  with  laughter,  toffy,  fudge  and 
good  humor.  Even  Smorgas,  the  cat,  won  her  way 
into  Hjalmar's  affections,  and  was  allowed  to  sit  up- 
on his  knee. 

That  night  before  Audrey  fell  asleep  she  thought 
to  herself: 

"Hjalmar  believes  the  mate's  story  about  the  Vi- 
king ship;  he  would  not  say  so  but  he  believes  it." 


CHAPTER  7 

On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful 

IT  WAS  a  blue  and  gold  day  when  they  started  for 
Stockholm. 

"I  hope  we'll  have  all  sorts  of  adventures,"  said 
Audrey  to  Valfried  as  they  waited  for  the  white 
boat  to  glide  up  to  the  wooden  landing. 

"There  are  Nils  and  Ingeborg,  see  them  on  the 
upper  deck,"  called  Bjorn  as  he  and  Sven  arrived, 
laden  with  packages.  They  had  hurried  down  the 
path  and  behind  them  came  Fru  Zander  and  Lille- 
more,  the  latter  carrying  two  bags  and  a  number  of 
packages. 

"Lillemore  will  not  go  for  a  journey  unless  she 
is  laden  with  bundles,"  Fru  Zander  said  laughingly 
to  Audrey.  She  took  her  youngest  child  firmly  by 
the  hand  as  she  spoke.  She  knew  Astrid  of  old  and 
had  no  intention  of  letting  her  out  of  her  sight  until 
they  were  safely  on  board. 

What  fun  it  was,  running  up  the  slippery  gang 
plank  with  Lillemore  calling  to  them  shrilly  to  be 
careful.  Then  waving  good-bye  to  old  Hjalmar,  who 
stood  waving  his  scarlet  handkerchief  from  the 

85 


86  Midsummer 

landing.  Everyone  was  waving;  a  number  of  sum- 
mer people  had  boarded  the  boat  at  their  landing 
and  their  friends  and  servants  had  come  down  to 
see  them  off. 

"You'd  think  they  were  going  to  be  gone  a 
month,"  whispered  Audrey  to  Sven  as  they  stood 
a  little  apart  from  the  others.  "Even  the  old  Pastor 
has  come  way  down  to  the  land  to  say  good-bye  and 
he  is  so  lame."  Audrey  waved  to  the  Zander  chil- 
dren's grandfather  as  she  spoke. 

"Yes,  isn't  it  funny,  the  fuss  they  make  about  be- 
ing away  for  a  few  days.  There  is  Aunt  Greta,  see 
there  on  the  balcony,"  answered  Sven.  The  boat 
was  passing  underneath  the  castle  and  the  children 
called  out: 

"Good-bye,  Tante  Greta,  good-bye,"  and  waved 
frantically.  The  Zanders  and  Wicanders  also 
waved.  "After  all,  it's  rather  nice,  the  waving  I 
mean,"  exclaimed  Audrey  impulsively. 

She  was  glad  of  their  holiday,  poor  Tante  Greta, 
and  she  had  given  them  each  ten  kronar  to  spend. 
"I  wish  Tante  Greta  had  come  with  us;  she  never 
has  any  fun,"  said  Audrey  to  Valfried  as  the  castle 
and  bay  faded  from  sight  and  they  found  them- 
selves suddenly  gliding  through  the  narrow  water- 
way just  beyond. 

"Why,  I  couldn't  fancy  your  aunt  being  anywhere 
but  at  the  castle,"  Valfried  replied.  "But  come," 
grasping  Audrey's  arm,  "let  us  hurry  upstairs  be- 


On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful  87 

fore  Astrid  sees  us;  she  is  with  mother  and  Lillemore 
now,  the  others  have  gone  up." 

The  two  girls  ran  quickly  up  the  companionway 
but  Astrid  spied  them. 

"Wait,  wait  for  me,"  she  called  eagerly,  but  they 
were  up  and  away  and  seated  in  a  far  corner  of  the 
deck,  with  the  Wlicanders  and  Bjorn  and  Sven,  be- 
fore her  fat  legs  had  reached  the  top  step.  She  saw 
them  at  once  and  ran  towards  them.  She  wore  a 
blue  print  frock  and  her  flaxen  braids  stood  out  each 
each  side  of  her  round,  excited  little  face. 

"Oh  bother  Astrid;  she  is  so  forward,  never  will- 
ing to  stay  with  mother  and  Lillemore,"  exclaimed 
Valfried  crossly. 

uWe  left  Petrus  home  at  the  villa.  Mother  said 
he  would  do  better  in  the  country,"  remarked  Inge- 
borg,  as  Astrid  settled  herself  comfortably  beside 
Audrey,  quite  unconscious  of  the  lack  of  welcome 
that  awaited  her. 

"Good  idea,  wish  our  mother  felt  the  same," 
grumbled  Bjorn.  Audrey  put  her  arm  around 
Astrid's  eager  little  figure.  They  were  great  friends, 
these  two.  "Suppose  you  be  my  little  sister  while 
we're  in  Stockholm,"  she  whispered,  and  Astrid 
whispered  back,  "Yes,  you  can  look  after  me,  but 
you  must  let  me  eat  as  many  cakes  as  I  like."  She 
nestled  contentedly  against  Audrey's  shoulder. 

The  wind  flapped  the  canvas  siding  of  the  boat, 
the  sun  sparkled  on  the  sea,  from  below  came 


88  Midsummer 

the   strains   of   a   harmonium   playing  the   Hambo 
Polka. 

A  boy  came  up  the  companionway  with  a  tray 
laden  with  glasses  in  which  was  a  golden  mixture. 

"Appelsene  saft,"  he  called,  and  Bjorn  beckoned 
him  to  come  up  to  them. 

"A  glass  for  each  of  us,"  he  said  to  the  boy.  He 
counted  out  his  change  and  soon  they  were  all  sip- 
ping the  cool,  bitter-sweet  drink. 

They  all  hummed  the  air  of  the  Hambo  Polka, 
the  boys  keeping  time  with  their  feet.  Suddenly 
Bjorn  gave  a  shout  and  pointed  to  a  big  boat.  They 
had  come  to  an  open  bay  and  what  looked  very  like 
a  man-of-war  lay  near  them. 

"It's  one  of  the  boats  from  the  Fort  Vaxholm,  I 
think.  Let's  get  a  closer  look,"  exclaimed  Nils  and 
the  three  boys  rushed  off  together. 

Ingeborg  and  Valfried  were  talking  eagerly  about 
all  they  meant  to  do  in  Stockholm. 

"Audrey  will  love  some  of  the  pictures  in  the  Na- 
tional Museum,  won't  she,  Valfried?"  asked  Inge- 
borg. 

"Oh  we're  not  going  to  spend  our  time  in  mouldy 
old  places  like  the  Museum  or  Ridderholm,"  an- 
swered  Valfried  a  little  crossly.  She  was  not  at  all 
pleased  at  having  Astrid  with  them  and  it  had  ruffled 
her  temper. 

"We're  going  to  Stockholm  to  amuse  ourselves, 
not  to  moon  around  tombs.  We're  going  to  stay 


On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful  89 

out  on  the  boats  and  hear  the  music  and  see  the  wild 
cats  at  Skansen  and  just  let  old  Gustafus  Adolphus 
and  the  other  old  kings  and  things  stay  where  they 
are !"  she  went  on. 

The  other  girls  laughed  at  this,  and  so  did  Val- 
fried.  Audrey  stood  up  suddenly.  "I've  a  cramp 
in  my  leg  so  I'm  going  to  walk  up  and  down  for  a 
minute.  I'm  going  to  see  what's  below."  She  smiled 
back  at  the  other  two,  and  with  Astrid  at  her  side, 
she  walked  off  down  the  deck.  At  the  far  end  they 
stopped  and  looked  down.  Way  below  them  some 
peasants  were  eating  their  dinner.  They  sat  about 
on  the  floor  of  the  hold  or  on  coils  of  rope  and  were 
eating  large  pieces  of  hard  bread  and  cheese.  A 
group  of  young  lads  and  girls  were  dancing  to  the 
lilting  air  that  an  old  man  played  for  them  on  the 
harmonium. 

Who  was  that — yes,  why,  could  it  be  ?  Why,  yes, 
it  was  Nore !  He  sat  with  another  boy  on  a  coil 
of  rope,  apart  from  the  other.  The  boy,  his  com- 
panion, had  a  fat,  uninteresting  face.  They,  too, 
were  eating  dark  bread  and  something  that  looked 
like  cold  sausage,  and  they  seemed  to  be  enjoying 
themselves  very  much  indeed. 

Nore  was  coming  to  Stockholm  too !  Would  they 
see  him  there?  Why  had  he  not  told  her? 

Suddenly  she  called  softly,  "Nore!"  He  did  not 
hear  her,  for  he  was  watching  a  flock  of  sea  gulls 
silhouetted  against  a  gold-touched  cloud.  She  called 


90  Midsummer 

again  and  then  he  turned  and  saw  her.  His  face  was 
lighted  by  the  joy  the  picture  the  gulls  made  had 
given  him.  There  was  a  smile  on  his  lips  and  in  his 
eyes.  He  showed  no  surprise  at  seeing  her. 

"Froken,  did  you  see  the  gulls,  the  gold  and  white 
picture  that  they  made?"  he  asked  her.  He  came 
nearer  so  that  they  could  talk  with  more  ease.  She 
spoke  to  him  reproachfully.  "Oh,  Nore,  why  did 
you  not  tell  me  that  you,  too,  were  going  to  Stock- 
holm, for  that's  where  you're  going,  isn't  it?" 

Axel  meanwhile  had  stood  up  and  moved  away  to 
speak  to  his  cousins  who  were  making  a  merry 
meal  nearby.  Nore  nodded  towards  him  as  he 
answered  Audrey. 

"Yes,  Froken,  it  is  with  my  best  friend,  Axel, 
that  I  am  going.  We  are  going  to  stay  with  a 
friend  of  his  mother  who  keeps  a  Konditori  in 
Ridderholm,  that  is  the  very  old  part  of  Stockholm, 
you  know." 

"I  spoke  only  of  my  holiday  on  my  Name's  Day 
night,  when  you  and  Marta  rowed  me  across  the 
bay.  You  never  said  that  you  were  going  to  have  one, 
too."  Audrey  had  to  call  over  the  side  of  the  boat 
because  of  the  noise  of  the  harmonium  and  the 
swishing  of  the  water,  but  Nore  seemed  to  speak 
quite  quietly,  yet  she  heard  every  word. 

"But  it  was  in  your  holiday  I  was  interested, 
Froken,"  he  said,  smiling  up  at  her. 

"Oh,  I  do  hope  we'll  all  see  each  other  in  Stock- 


On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful  91 

holm,  I  want  you  to  tell  me  about  the  old  places, 
and  Oh  so  many  things.  Valf  ried  doesn't  want  to  see 
old  things,  she  says,  and  I  don't  really  care  much 
about  tombs  of  kings — but  the  pictures,  Oh  I  do  want 
to  see  the  pictures." 

As  she  spoke  of  the  pictures,  Nore's  face  light- 
ened still  more  and  he  nodded. 

"I  do  hope  we'll  see  you  in  Stockholm,"  Audrey 
insisted. 

Nore  shook  his  head.  "Stockholm  is  a  large  city, 
Froken,  there  will  be  many  thousands  of  people 
there." 

uBut  at  the  park,  Skansen,  midsummer  night, 
you'll  surely  be  there  then,"  exclaimed  Audrey. 

uYes,"  he  answered  eagerly.  "Midsummer  night, 
the  flames,  the  stillness  and  then — the  song!" 

"I  hope  we'll  see  you  then,"  she  said.  She  turned 
away  before  he  could  answer.  Sudden  tears  came 
to  her  eyes  as  she  walked  slowly  back,  far  down  the 
deck,  where  the  others  awaited  her.  Nore  had  not 
answered  her  in  kind,  he  did  not  wish  to  be  the  com- 
rade she  would  have  him.  He  had  not  said  that  he 
hoped  he  would  see  them  all  in  Stockholm;  he  had 
spoken  only  of  the  sea  gulls  and  the  fire,  the  great 
bonfire  that  they  would  see  at  Skansen,  midsum- 
mer night.  She  winked  back  tears,  smiled  and 
waved  her  hand  at  the  others  who  were  calling 
to  her. 

"We're  coming  to  Surdetelje  where  we  can  buy  the 


92  Midsummer 

nice  little  cakes/'  exclaimed  Astrid  joyously,  jump- 
ing up  and  down  as  was  her  way  when  particularly 
happy. 

"Lillemore's  grandmother  sold  cakes  here,  years 
ago,"  said  Valfried,  as  they  all  stood  close  to  the 
railing  and  watched  the  boat  glide  slowly  through 
the  lock.  The  little  green,  grey  village  seemed  so 
carefully  tucked  away  among  the  sheltering  pine 
trees.  As  the  boat  stopped,  puffing  and  swishing,  at 
the  little  landing,  a  group  of  little  old  women  came 
close,  calling  out  their  wares.  They  wore  short 
skirts  and  funny  frilled  caps  and  they  looked,  all  of 
them,  most  exactly  alike. 

"They  are  always  there, "  laughed  Ingeborg,  put- 
ting her  arm  around  Audrey.  "Sometimes  I  wonder 
what  would  happen  if  just  once  they  should  be  late 
for  the  boat." 

"Oh,  I  do  like  Ingeborg  so  much,"  thought  Aud- 
rey, "I  like  her  being  sort  of  plain  and  dark  and 
when  she  speaks  of  pictures  and  things,  Oh — I  don't 
know,  but  I  can  almost  see  them.  I  love  Valfried 
too,"  she  thought  loyally. 

"Kringler,  kringler,  I  want  kringler,"  sang  Astrid, 
as  Sven  and  Bjorn  ran  down  the  companionway  and 
the  others  watched  them.  They  laughed  and  talked 
with  the  old  women  and  came  away  with  a  big  bag 
of  the  dainties  for  which  Surdetelje  is  famous.  They 
were  still  laughing  when  they  joined  the  others. 
"One  old  dame  told  Sven  he  spoke  perfect  Swedish," 


On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful  93 

laughed  Bjorn  as  he  passed  the  bag  around.  They 
were  soon  enjoying  the  crisp,  sweet,  twisted  cakes. 

"Nore  Carlson  is  below,  he  and  Axel  Jensen. 
We've  been  talking  to  them,"  said  Bjorn.  "I  hope  he 
will  have  a  good  time.  Just  think,  he's  never  been  to 
the  city." 

It  was  evening  when  they  entered  the  harbor  of 
Stockholm.  Down  the  bay  they  steamed  and  the 
children  watched  the  ships  that  lay  at  anchor,  the 
spires  of  Stockholm,  silver  and  gold  against  the 
startling  crimson  of  the  sky.  How  swiftly  and 
smoothly  their  boat  glided  past  the  navy  yard! 
There  seemed  to  be  music  everywhere,  glorious 
music,  great  sweeps  of  melody. 

"That's  the  Finnish  band,  they're  playing  over 
there."  Bjorn  pointed  to  a  blur  of  trees  along  the 
shore. 

Back  and  forth,  like  hurrying  little  fishes,  plied  the 
boats,  boats  of  all  kinds  and  sizes:  sail  boats,  lazily 
dipping  at  their  anchors,  pleasure  boats  chugging  in 
from  their  journeyings  up  the  Malar  Lake  or  down 
the  fjords;  and  always  the  little  steamboats  that 
glide  back  and  forth,  constantly,  from  one  part  of 
the  city  to  another,  for  Stockholm  is  built  on  seven 
islands. 

"We're  here,  isn't  it  fun?"  exclaimed  Valfried  as 
the  boat  glided  up  to  the  wharf.  Lillemore  called 
to  them  shrilly  to  hurry. 

"Your  mother  is  waiting,  the  luggage  is  waiting, 


94  Midsummer 

we  must  find  cabs  at  once,"  she  shrieked  up  the  com- 
panionway. 

"I  wish  Lillemore  would  stop  yelling,  she  seems 
to  think  we're  still  babies,"  grumbled  Bjorn  as  he 
leisurely  descended  the  gangplank,  hurrying,  how- 
ever, when  he  saw  his  mother. 

"I  have  had  a  splendid  rest,"  said  Fru  Zander 
cheerily.  "Now:  we  are  really  here,  has  the  journey 
seemed  long,  dears  ?"  she  asked  the  girls,  as  they 
waited  on  the  wharf,  while  the  boys  and  Lillemore 
put  the  luggage  into  two  taxis. 

"We're  really  here,"  Audrey  repeated  to  herself 
as  they  stood  there  with  the  almost  blinding  beauty 
of  the  city  and  the  sea  and  sky  about  them. 

"I'm  going  to  do  just  as  I  like,  all  the  time  I'm 
here,"  said  Astrid  happily,  "I'm — " 

"Audrey,  Astrid,  come."  Valfried  called  them 
and  the  next  moment  they  were  all  packed  in  be- 
tween the  many  bags  and  bundles  and  had  started 
along  the  sea  front,  across  the  wide  bridge  that  led 
from  the  great  palace  to  the  grey  square  where  stood 
the  statue  of  Gustaf  Adolf,  that  brilliant  king  of 
Sweden  who  once  made  all  of  Europe  draw  its  breath 
in  astonishment. 

They  whirled  along  so  fast  that  before  they  knew 
it,  they  were  sweeping  up  Strandvagen,  a  lovely 
boulevard  facing  the  bay,  and  after  a  few  minutes 
found  themselves  in  the  lobby  of  the  Zander's  apart- 
ment house.  There  was  plenty  of  bustle  bringing  in 


On  the  Way  to  the  City  Beautiful  95 

the  luggage,  Lillemore  and  the  maids  calling  back 
and  forth.  The  servants  had  come  up  the  day  before 
and  had  put  everything  in  readiness. 

Every  one  in  Stockholm  lives  in  apartments,  but 
the  Zanders  had  two  and  as  they  were  connected  by 
a  staircase,  it  seemed  like  a  real  house  to  them  all. 
The  staircase  was  in  the  dining-room  and  from  the 
first,  it  fascinated  Audrey  more  than  anything  else 
in  the  house.  It  was  painted  bright  red  and  it  had 
all  kinds  of  odd  little  figures  on  it. 

"It's  the  nicest  staircase  I  ever  saw,  it's  like  the 
garden  at  Sunhem — different,"  said  Audrey  to  Val- 
fried,  as  they  stood  for  a  moment  in  the  midst  of  a 
varied  assortment  of  bags.  Fru  Zander  had  gone 
on  upstairs,  and  the  boys  were  there,  having  carried 
up  some  of  their  belongings. 

Suddenly  Fru  Zander's  voice  called  sharply: 
"Valfried!"  The  next  moment  she  stood  at  the 
head'of  the  stairs,  she  was  quite  pale  and  in  her  hand 
she  held  an  open  letter. 

"Valfried,  your  Aunt  Lisa  is  ill.  Such  a  pathetic 
letter,  Karl  is  away  and  she  is  all  alone,  way  up  there 
in  that  lonely  Jevla.  I  must  go  to  her  at  once.  She 
has  had  one  of  those  bad  attacks  again,  so  far  away 
from  home.  How  can  I  leave  you  all,  children.  But 
indeed  I  must  go." 

Valfried  ran  upstairs,  threw  her  arms  around  her 
mother's  neck  and  gave  her  a  hug.  Bjorn  stood 
just  behind  his  mother,  his  honest  freckled  face 


96  Midsummer 

full  of  concern,  for  his  Aunt  Lisa  was  his  especial 
favorite. 

"Never  mind,  mother,  we'll  do  finely.  I'm  the  man 
of  the  house  now,  I'll  see  that  they  none  of  them  do 
anything  foolish — all  except  Astrid — I'll  not  be  re- 
sponsible for  her."  Bjorn  smiled  as  he  spoke  and 
was  only  joking,  but  Fru  Zander  looked  worried. 

"Yes,  I  ought  to  take  the  baby  but,  of  course, 
Lillemore  is  a  host  in  herself.  And  she  has  so 
counted  on  having  the  holiday  here  with  you  all.  She 
will  be  good,  I'm  sure." 

Audrey  ran  quickly  up  the  stairs  and  she,  too, 
threw  her  arms  around  Fru  Zander. 

"Let  Astrid  be  my  little  sister,  too,  while  you  are 
gone,  I  promise  to  take  care  of  her." 


CHAPTER  8 
Sun  and  Shadow 

"FROKEN  VALFRIED,  I've  called  you  five  times  to 
come  to  breakfast,"  Lillemore's  voice  called  loudly 
up  the  red  staircase. 

"Here  we  are,  the  three  of  us,  and  sorry  to  be 
late,"  laughed  Ingeborg,  as  the  three  girls  ran  down 
the  stairs,  and  up  to  the  breakfast  table,  with  its 
blue  and  white  china  and  its  big  bowl  of  cornflowers 
in  the  center. 

Astrid  was  just  finishing  her  porridge  and  seemed 
downcast.  "The  boys  went  to  the  navy  yard 
and  they  would  not  take  me  with  them,"  she  com- 
plained. 

Audrey  laughed  as  she  kissed  her  and  said,  "You 
are  to  look  after  me  and  show  me  the  sights  of 
Stockholm."  The  boys  came  in  just  as  breakfast 
was  over,  and  while  the  girls  ran  to  put  on  their  hats, 
they  finished  what  was  left  of  the  spicy  coffee  cake. 
They  had  had  an  early  breakfast  and  had  sailed  over 
to  the  navy  school,  where  a  friend  of  Nil's  had 
shown  them  around.  Sven  was  full  of  delight  in  the 
city,  and  when  the  girls  returned,  ready  for  the  out- 

97 


98  Midsummer 

ing,  they  all  started  off  in  high  spirits,  Astrid's  hand 
tight  in  Audrey's. 

They  walked  along  towards  Gustaf  Adolf's 
Square  as  Bjorn  had  suggested  they  watch  the  king's 
guard  change.  "Audrey  and  Sven  will  like  that, 
they've  never  seen  it,"  he  said.  "Never  seen  the 
king's  guard!"  Astrid  could  not  believe  it,  for  the 
first  thing  she  could  remember  was  standing  with 
Lillemore,  watching  the  soldiers.  As  they  all  stood 
there  in  the  great  grey  square,  she  waved  excitedly 
when  the  blue  and  silver  uniforms  flashed  in  the  sun, 
and  the  guard  crossed  the  bridge  from  the  palace, 
saluted  the  soldiers  going  to  take  their  place  to  guard 
the  king,  and  passed  on  down  the  broad  street.  The 
stately  palace  gleamed  in  the  sunlight,  far  across  the 
bridge,  and  the  children  walked  towards  it,  stopping 
now  and  then  to  watch  the  many  boats  that  lay  at 
anchor,  and  the  others  that  steamed  back  and  forth, 
under  the  white  bridges. 

"Don't  you  love  it,  Audrey,  the  sea  and  the  boats? 
I  don't  want  to  boast,  but — I  do  love  my  own  city, 
just  the  best  of  all.  I've  seen  Paris  and  Venice  and 
Vienna — but  Stockholm  is  different."  Ingeborg 
looked  off  across  the  harbor  as  she  spoke.  Her 
dark  plain  face  was  filled  with  the  artist's  love  of 
beauty. 

"It  is  enchanting,  Ingeborg.  I'm  learning  things, 
someway,  I  can't  explain,  but  I  just  feel  different," 
answered  Audrey.  They  stood  for  a  moment,  watch- 


Sun  and  Shadow  99 

ing  the  little  boats  weave  in  and  out  amongst  the 
larger  craft,  and  sturdily  steam  away  to  far  parts  of 
the  city.  The  many  bridges  gleamed  like  silver  in 
the  sunshine. 

Sven  confided  to  Audrey  afterwards  that  he  hadn't 
cared  very  much  for  the  palace.  "It's  too  gloomy," 
he  had  said.  "I  like  to  be  out,  not  stuffed  up  in  old 
mouldy  buildings.  I  don't  see  any  use  in  having  so 
many  rooms,  they  don't  use  half  of  them,  any  way." 

It  was  not  so  with  Audrey;  she  always  remem- 
bered that  hour  in  the  old  palace. 

"It's  not  really  so  very  old,  you  know,"  Nils 
Wicander  explained  to  her,  as  they  stood  together 
in  the  throne  room.  "It's  not  like  Gripsholm  up  the 
Malar  Lake,  or  Drottingham — they're  old  castles. 
If  you  like,  perhaps  we  can  see  them  before  we  go 
back.  We  could  take  our  lunch  and  go  off  on  one  of 
the  boats  and  spend  the  day.  Gripsholm  is  only  an 
hour  from  here." 

"This  one  seems  old  and  strange  enough  for  me," 
answered  Audrey,  gazing  at  the  great  silver  throne. 

The  others  had  gone  on  into  the  next  room  and 
Valfried  called  from  the  doorway,  "Come  into  the 
White  Sea,  Audrey!" 

It  was  well  named,  this  great  ball  room  of  the 
palace,  but  it  was  not  because  of  its  beauty  or  its  gran- 
deur that  Audrey  stood  for  a  moment  on  its  thres- 
hold and  that  the  tears  came  suddenly  to  her  eyes. 
It  was  because  it  was  here,  in  the  magnificence  of  the 


ioo  Midsummer 

famous  ball  room,  that  her  father  had  first  seen  her 
mother. 

"Standing  with  some  officer  of  the  court,  in  the 
center  of  the  ball  room,  she  was  like  a  sunbeam 
caught  in  marble."  Those  were  the  words  he  had 
said  to  her,  her  practical,  unromantic  father.  "She 
was  like  a  sunbeam  caught  in  marble."  How  lovely! 
The  tears  were  near  Audrey's  eyes  and  she  hardly 
heard  all  that  Nils  told  her  of  the  people  coming 
into  the  throne  room  once  a  year,  to  the  king.  The 
parliament  opening  when  the  pages  and  the  soldiers, 
the  court  and  royalty  made  so  magnificent  a  spec- 
tacle. Nils  had  seen  it  all  the  winter  before,  because 
his  father  was  a  member  and  there  had  been  a  box 
for  the  member's  children. 

They  wandered  through  the  old  rooms,  seeing 
even  the  private  apartment  of  the  royal  family,  as 
they  were  away  for  the  summer  in  their  various 
palaces  along  the  sea  coast. 

When  they  came  out  again  into  the  sunshine,  Inge- 
borg  said  something  about  going  to  Ridderholm 
Church  but  Valf ried  spoke  up  decidedly :  "We  don't 
want  to  spend  our  time  in  stuffy  places." 

"I  should  say  not,"  agreed  the  boys. 

"Should  say  not,"  echoed  Astrid.  "Let's  see 
where  there  is  a  nice  place  for  cakes,"  she  suggested. 

"Isn't  that  the  museum  across  the  way,  couldn't 
we  go  and  look  at  the  pictures  for  a  little  while?" 
suggested  Audrey. 


Sun  and  Shadow  101 

Valfried  frowned.  "Two  is  company,  three  is 
none;  come  on  Astrid,  we'll  go  by  ourselves." 

Audrey  looked  at  her  in  amazement.  Valfried 
was  put  out.  There  was  no  doubt  about  that.  What 
was  it?  She  had  not  seemed  at  all  like  herself  since 
they  started.  "It's  because  of  Astrid  perhaps," 
Audrey  thought.  "It  is  because  we  have  to  look 
after  Astrid." 

"Of  course,  I  hoped  you  would  come,  too,  Val- 
fried," exclaimed  Audrey. 

"No,  I'll  take  Astrid  to  the  bird  shop,  she  always 
wants  to  go  when  she's  here  in  town.  You  and  Inge- 
borg  will  be  quite  happy,  by  yourselves."  She  took 
Astrid's  hand  and  the  girls  could  see  that  she  was 
still  frowning. 

"Very  well,"  said  Bjorn  cheerily,  quite  unconscious 
that  there  was  anything  amiss.  "We'll  all  meet  at 
the  Franska  Konditori  at  one.  Hurry  girls  !  you  can 
just  catch  the  boat,  if  you  run!" 

The  girls  had  only  time  to  wave  their  hands  as  the 
little  boat  was  whistling  at  the  landing  at  the  foot 
of  the  palace  steps.  A  few  minutes  later  they  were 
chugging  across  the  wide  glistening  bay.  Audrey 
stood  by  the  railing,  the  beauty  of  the  morning  all 
about  her.  There  was  a  lump  in  her  throat;  it  had 
been  there  since  she  stood  in  the  doorway  of  the 
White  Sea.  Something  dimmed  the  loveliness  of  the 
day.  Valfried  was  cross  because  she  had  asked  Inge- 
borg  to  go  with  her  to  the  museum.  How  stupid 


IO2  Midsummer 

she  had  been,  impulsive  as  always,  never  waiting  to 
think  a  moment  before  she  spoke.  She  had  some- 
how taken  it  for  granted  that  Valfried  would  not 
want  to  go  because  she  had  said  she  was  tired  of 
stuffy  places,  because  she  always  said  she  liked  better 
to  be  out  of  doors.  The  sudden  idea  of  the  museum 
had  come  to  Audrey  and  she  had  thought  of  Inge- 
borg  who  loved  pictures  and  knew  so  much  about 
them. 

Ingeborg's  voice  sounded  at  her  side.  "Look 
back  at  Stockholm  On  The  Islands,  Audrey,"  she 
said.  So  Audrey  looked  back  at  the  proud  city, 
gleaming  in  the  sunlight,  touched  with  silver  and 
gold,  the  proud  palace,  and  back  of  it,  the  dark  mass 
of  old  Ridderholm. 

It  was  only  a  few  minutes  sail  across  to  the 
museum.  They  walked  up  the  steps  and  stood  foi 
some  time,  watching  the  doves  that  hovered  close 
to  the  grey  old  building.  Seagulls  walked  about 
among  them  or  hovered  near,  calling  harshly. 

Statues  of  marble  and  bronze  gleamed  coldly  in 
the  half  light  as  the  girls  climbed  up  the  stairs  to 
the  gallery  above. 

"We'll  only  have  time  to  see  a  few  of  the  pictures 
now,  but  we  can  come  again,  the  last  of  the  week. 
It's  so  nice  having  you  all  to  myself  while  we  see  the 
pictures,"  said  Ingeborg,  putting  her  arm  through 
Audrey's. 

They  went  into  the  great  silent  room,  and  paused 


tr**H 


Sun  and  Shadow  103 

at  once  before  a  painting  hung  near  the  entrance.  It 
was  a  picture  of  David,  the  shepherd  lad,  playing  to 
Saul.  The  lad  sat  on  the  floor,  a  tiger  skin  about 
him,  playing  his  harp  and  looking  up  with  so  loving 
and  inspired  a  glance,  at  the  sad  face  of  the  king. 

"It's  my  favorite  picture,  I've  loved  it  since  I  was 
a  child,"  whispered  Ingeborg. 

After  a  few  moments,  they  separated,  and  Audrey 
went  over  to  a  far  corner  of  the  room.  It  was  her 
whim  to  look  at  the  pictures  and  ask  Ingeborg  about 
them,  afterwards.  She  looked  up  at  the  great  paint- 
ing of  the  mad  King  Eric  and  the  little  nut-selling 
girl  that  he  made  his  queen.  The  face  of  the  man 
was  so  sad,  so  tragic,  for  he  had  terrible  moods  and 
then  only  the  little  Karin,  his  queen,  could  comfort 
and  soothe  him.  It  was  a  wonderful  picture  but  it 
was  not  a  happy  one. 

Ingeborg  was  way  off  at  the  other  side  of  the  room 
studying  something  she  was  trying  to  copy.  Audrey 
looked  up  suddenly  and  there,  not  far  from  her, 
stood  Nore^  He  was  alone,  his  grey  suit  seemed  a 
part  of  the  grey  room;  the  startling  colors  of  the  pic- 
tures seemed  to  flare  like  flames  in  the  misty  dim- 
ness. As  he  was  turning  away  from  the  picture  of 
Charles  the  Twelfth,  he  saw  Audrey  at  once  and 
came  up  to  her. 

"I'm  glad  you  came  here,  Froken,  I  was  thinking 
of  you  because  you  said  you  liked  pictures — have  you 
seen  this  one  of  our  great  king?"  he  asked. 


IO4  Midsummer 

Audrey  went  over  with  him  and  they  stood  under 
the  picture,  together. 

"No,"  she  whispered.  Every  one  seemed  to  speak 
softly  in  the  gallery. 

"Tell  me  about  it,  Nore,"  she  added. 

So  Nore  told  her  of  the  great  king  who  had  made 
all  Europe  quiver,  who  had  conquered  and  conquered 
and  who  at  last  was  brought  home,  across  the  moun- 
tains, wounded  to  the  death. 

"Do  you  see  his  face?"  asked  Nore  softly.  "Noth- 
ir  g  could  conquer  him,  nothing!  It  is  the  face  that 
is  the  most  wonderful.  O  to  paint  a  picture  like 
that,  Froken!" 

They  stood  there  together,  looking  up  at  the  face 
of  the  king,  lying  on  a  stretcher,  a  blood-stained 
bandage  about  his  head.  The  lonely  mountain  pass, 
the  few  faithful  soldiers  carrying  the  litter,  defeated 
at  last,  straggling  back  to  Sweden  across  the  snow. 
The  only  ones  to  do  honor  to  the  great  king  are  a 
solitary  huntsman  and  his  son,  who  stand  with  bowed 
heads. 

Just  as  Nore  had  seemed  to  forget  her,  in  watch- 
ing the  seagulls,  so  now  he  seemed  to  do,  looking  at 
the  picture.  But  he  turned  suddenly  and  said  simply, 
"You  are  sad,  Froken,  can  I  help  you?" 

How  had  he  known! 

"I  don't  know  really  why  I  should  be,  everything 
is  so  happy — but  I  am  thinking  of  mother.  We  were 
at  the  palace  and  it  was  there,  in  the  ball  room,  the 


Sun  and  Shadow  105 

wonderful  White  Sea,  that  my  father  first  saw  her. 
Oh,  Nore,  I  don't  know  what  it  is,  but  something  is 
wrong  at  the  castle.  We're  not  like  other  families; 
we're  not  happy — It's  not  just  because  it's  all  strange 
to  us,  it's  something  else — Tante  Greta  and  grand- 
father—" 

Nore  listened  intently  as  he  had  done  on  the  rocks, 
for  it  was  not  always  easy  for  him  to  understand 
her. 

"The  castle,"  he  said,  speaking  in  his  clear  slow 
way,  "The  castle  has  a  charm  for  me  so  great  that 
I  have  dreamed  of  it,  so  many  times!  The  castle 
has  a  secret,  Froken,  I  have  felt  that  always — what 
it  is  I  do  not  know,  but  it  is  there." 

"Oh,  Nore,  if  you  and  I  could  find  it  out!"  ex- 
claimed Audrey  softly  but  eagerly. 

Nore  smiled — his  rare  smile — it  lit  up  his  quiet 
face,  making  it  at  once  eager  and  boyish  and  happy. 

"You  and  I  are  really  friends,  do  say  so,  Nore," 
said  Audrey. 

"You  are  the  friend  I  have  always  wanted,"  he 
answered,  and  she  noticed  that  he  did  not  address  her 
as  Froken  this  time.  He  had  spoken  quite  easily,  as 
Bjorn  and  Nils  would  have  done. 

Just  then  Ingeborg  came  up  to  them,  greeted  Nore 
and  then  reminded  Audrey  that  they  must  hurry  or 
they  would  be  late  in  meeting  the  others.  They  said 
good-bye  to  Nore  and  were  soon  out  in  the  sunshine 
again,  sailing  across  the  bay. 


106  Midsummer 

"Nore  Carlson  looks  like  an  artist.  Isn't  it  odd, 
for  he  has  been  a  fisher  lad  since  he  was  enough  to 
hold  a  rod.  Yet  somehow  he  seemed  such  a  part  of 
the  pictures,  there  in  the  gallery."  Ingeborg  leaned 
her  arms  on  the  boat  railings  as  she  spoke.  Audrey 
answered  her  eagerly:  "I  feel  that  too,  but  it's  been 
something — I  couldn't  put  in  words." 

They  all  had  a  jolly  lunch  at  the  Konditori.  Val- 
fried  seemed  to  be  herself  again  and  the  boys  were 
full  of  their  adventures.  Bjorn  chose  a  table  for 
them  in  a  corner  and  told  them  to  order  anything 
they  liked.  His  mother  had  given  him  money  before 
she  left  and  he  greatly  enjoyed  playing  host.  They 
all  chose  the  same  things  for  lunch. 

"Mother  would  think  we  were  foolish,  just  choco- 
late and  cakes  and  raspberries  and  frozen  cream  for 
a  meal,"  laughed  Valfried. 

"I'm  going  to  have  as  many,  many  cakes  as  I  like," 
crooned  Astrid,  her  round  face  beaming. 

"How  can  you  let  people  see  how  greedy  you  are, 
it's  disgusting,"  scolded  Bjorn.  Then  he  gave  their 
order  to  the  smiling  waitress. 

"We  took  Sven  up  to  the  top  of  the  Katarina 
Elevator,"  said  Nils. 

"It  was  better  than  the  Woolworth  building." 
Sven  gave  Astrid  a  part  of  his  cream,  as  he 
spoke,  and  she  gave  him  a  sweet  but  sticky  smile, 
for  thanks. 

"This  is  the  funniest  meal,  choosing  all  the  cakes 


Sun  and  Shadow  107 

from  the  counter,  taking  as  many  as  we  like.  Aren't 
they  ever  afraid  that  people  will  be  dishonest  about 
it?"  asked  Audrey. 

"Why,  no,"  answered  Valfried  as  they  came 
out  again  to  the  street.  uNo  one  would  ever  think 
of  it." 

It  was  a  long  day  of  sunshine  and  fun.  The  tang 
of  the  salt  air  was  everywhere,  as  was  the  scent  of 
birch  leaves  and  of  flowers,  and  bright  splashes  of 
color,  as  girls  from  Dalacarnia  went  laughing  by, 
up  from  the  country  for  a  holiday. 

Lillemore  greeted  the  children  a  little  anxiously  at 
five  o'clock  when  they  reached  the  apartment,  a  tired 
but  undaunted  Astrid  in  their  midst. 

"We  had  a  great  many  cakes  for  lunch,  and  I  saw 
the  birds,  and  Audrey  and  I  went  to  the  Bee  Hive, 
and  she  bought  some  sewing  so  she  can  sew  with  us 
when  we  go  home — and — " 

"Well,  well,  Froken  Astrid,  do  not  talk  any  more, 
IVe  been  fairly  distracted  you're  all  so  late  getting 
home.  Supper  will  soon  be  ready,  run  upstairs  and 
wash,"  answered  Lillemore. 

"Do  interest  Astrid  in  something  tonight,  Lille- 
more, we  don't  want  her  with  us.  After  supper  we 
want  to  get  away  without  her  knowing,"  said  Bjorn 
to  the  nurse. 

"You  know  very  well  that  your  mother  wouldn't 
wish  you  to  be  out  in  the  evening  without  an  older 
person,  Master  Bjorn,"  objected  Lillemore. 


io8  Midsummer 

"It's  bright  daylight,  isn't  it?  I  was  fifteen  my 
last  birthday,  wasn't  I?  When  papa  isn't  here,  I'm 
man  of  the  house,  isn't  that  so?"  demanded  Bjorn 
fiercely. 

Lillemore  had  great  respect  for  the  man  of  the 
house  and  Bjorn  looked  so  tall  and  manly  and  was 
so  in  earnest,  that  she  shook  her  head  and  only  said, 
"You  must  come  home  early,  then.  It's  a  bad 
time  now,  the  city  is  full  of  strangers  and  pick- 
pockets. You  know  that  as  well  as  I  do." 

After  a  jolly  supper  during  which  they  did  ample 
justice  to  the  Smorgas  and  the  fish  omelette,  Lille- 
more  suggested  to  Astrid  that  she  come  up  and  try 
on  the  new  dres's  which  she  was  to  wear  the  next 
night  at  Skansen.  The  child  was  always  interested 
in  her  clothes,  and  followed  Lillemore  up  the  red 
stairway,  delightedly.  She  stopped  on  the  top  stairs 
and  looked  down  at  the  others.  "I'm  coming  right 
down  again,  I'm  not  going  to  bed  for  a  long  time," 
she  announced. 

The  others  slipped  out  quietly  and  stood  in  the 
entrance  hall  for  a  moment,  debating  what  to  do. 

"We  might  go  to  Hassleback&i'to  hear  the  King's 
band  play,"  suggested  Bjorn. 

"Can  we  go  in  a  boat?"  asked  Sven. 

"Of  course!  What  do  you  say,  girls?"  Bjorn 
turned  to  Audrey  as  he  spoke. 

"I  think  Audrey  would  love  the  music,  but  Bjorn, 
what  would  mother  say!"  exclaimed  Valfried. 


Sun  and  Shadow  109 

Bjorn  hesitated.  "It's  bright  daylight,  we  can 
leave  before  the  late  crowds  come,  I  don't  think  she 
would  mind  so  very  much,"  he  answered. 

They  boarded  a  boat  at  a  landing  near  the  apart- 
ment house  and  the  girls  sat  on  a  bench  on  the  tiny 
upper  deck.  The  wind  blew  joyously.  It  was  still 
too  early  for  much  of  a  crowd.  From  a  nearby  boat 
came  the  sound  of  many  voices,  singing.  Boats  were 
everywhere,  some  so  covered  with 'birch  leaves  they 
looked  like  the  floating  tops  of  trees. 

When  they  reached  the  pleasure  garden,  Bjorn 
found  a  good  table,  and  ordered  chocolate  for  the 
girls  and  Nils,  and  saft  for  himself  and  Sven. 

"There's  Nore  and  his  friend,"  he  exclaimed  sud- 
denly, "there  in  the  entrance  way,  they're  just  look- 
ing in." 

The  first  strains  of  the  orchestra  had  begun  and 
the  boys,  Nore  and  Axel,  stood  in  the  entrance  way 
a  moment  to  listen.  They  were  on  their  way  to 
Skansen,  the  great  forest  park  that  loomed  dark  and 
mysterious,  just  beyond  Hasslebacken. 

"Let's  ask  them  to  come  and  join  us,"  suggested 
Sven,  and  Aud.  y  felt  she  had  never  loved  her 
brother  as  she  did  at  that  minute. 

"Yes,  do,"  said  Ingeborg.  Valfried  said  nothing 
and  Audrey  felt  that  she  would  rather  the  boys  did 
not  join  them. 

Sven  went  up  to  Nore,  Bjorn  following  him. 

"Come,"  he  said  to  Nore,  "you  and  Axel  are  here 


iio  Midsummer 

for  fun,  too,  come  and  have  some  saft  with  us  and 
listen  to  the  music." 

Nore  hesitated  for  a  moment,  and  then  turned  to 
Axel. 

"Would  you  like  to  come,  Ax?"  he  asked.  Axel 
seemed  so  overcome  with  shyness  that  he  could  only 
nod  his  head,  so  the  two  boys  followed  Bjorn  and 
Sven  back  to  the  table  where  the  others  were  sitting. 
Sven  drew  two  chairs  from  the  table  next  them  and 
Bjorn  ordered  more  saft  and  cake  while  the  others 
greeted  the  boys  cordially.  Nore  sat  next  Sven  and 
Axel  just  behind  him.  Axel  did  not  speak  at  all,  ex- 
cept to  say  "Yes,  Froken"  and  "No,  Froken,"  when 
the  girls  spoke  to  him.  He  knew  no  English  and  he 
was  quite  overcome  at  the  invitation  from  the  young 
ladies  and  gentlemen. 

When  the  music  began,  Nore  closed  his  eyes.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  was  that  he  was  very  tired,  more 
from  excitement  than  for  any  other  reason.  He  was 
seeing  all  that  he  had  dreamed,  at  least  of  Stock- 
holm. Perhaps  some  day  other  dreams  would  come 
true.  His  feet  ached  for  he  was  not  used  to  the  hard 
pavements;  he  had  known  only  grass  and  sand  and 
the  feel  of  a  boat  under  his  feet. 

The  music  rose  to  a  burst  of  melody.  Audrey  and 
Sven  had  heard  orchestras  in  New  York  but  they 
had  never  heard  such  enchanting  music  as  that  which 
sounded  there  in  the  wonder  of  the  Swedish  night. 
It  had  grown  so  cold  that  people  began  to  wrap 


Sun  and  Shadow  1 1 1 

themselves  in  red  blankets  that  an  attendant  of  the 
gardens  passed  around.  One  rented  them  for  a  few 
ore. 

Audrey  was  soon  wrapped  up  in  one  and  won- 
dered if  she  looked  as  odd  as  did  Valfried  and  Inge- 
borg  in  theirs. 

In  spite  of  the  music  Bjorn  wanted  to  talk.  "Hope 
you're  having  a  jolly  time  in  the  city,  Nore,"  he  said 
heartily.  Nore  smiled  eagerly.  "It  is  wonderful, 
I  owe  it  all  to  Ax."  He  looked  gratefully  at  his 
friend  as  he  spoke.  Then  he  turned  and  listened  to 
the  music. 

"I  wish  they'd  play  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner," 
said  Sven  to  Bjorn. 

"Hush!  not  so  loud,  boys!  we  want  to  hear  the 
music!"  admonished  Valfried. 

"I  tell  you  what  I'll  do,"  whispered  Bjorn  to  Sven, 
"I'll  write  a  note  to  the  Herr  Director  and  ask  him 
if  they'll  play  it  as  a  favor,  because  there  are  some 
Americans  here.  It  will  be  a  surprise  to  the  girls ; 
we  won't  tell  them." 

"Do  you  think  they  could  possibly  know  it?" 
asked  Sven. 

"They  might!  Perhaps  they've  learned  it  so  that 
they  can  play  it  when  American  tourists  are  here; 
anyway,  I'll  see."  Bjorn  tore  a  piece  of  paper  from 
a  note-book  in  his  pocket  and  replaced  three  post 
cards,  a  fish  hook,  a  bar  of  chocolate  and  a  pair  of 
cuffs  links  which  he  had  been  obliged  to  unearth,  in 


1 1 2  Midsummer 

order  to  find  it.  Then  he  wrote  a  few  lines  on  the 
paper  and  beckoned  to  a  waiter.  "Take  this  to  the 
Herr  Director,  please,"  he  said. 

Sven  and  Nore  became  a  little  acquainted  during 
the  intermission.  Sven  had  many  questions  to  ask 
about  sailing  and  he  told  Nore  that  he  had  written 
to  his  father,  asking  for  a  sailboat. 

"I  told  him  I'd  find  some  way  to  earn  the  money 
to  pay  him  back,  sometime.  Not  that  he'd  ever  want 
me  to." 

Nore  was  more  interested  in  the  American  children 
than  he  had  ever  been  in  any  human  being  before. 
He  had  never  seen  any  one  outside  of  the  little  world 
up  the  Skerries.  His  inner  life  had  been  in  the 
dreams  he  had  woven  for  himself  of  places  and 
things.  Now  these  children  had  come,  both  of  them, 
the  boy  and  the  girl,  so  different  from  anything  he 
had  ever  known.  Audrey  with  her  impulsive  quick 
ways,  her  fearlessness,  her  charm,  and  Sven  with  a 
life  behind  him  that  Nore  could  not  fancy,  even  in 
his  dreams,  a  life  full  of  independence  and  rush,  of 
wealth  and  excitement. 

Suddenly  the  strains  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner" rose  on  the  sweet  night  air.  Audrey  caught 
Valfried's  arm  in  a  tremor  of  delight,  then  she  and 
Sven  rose  to  their  feet. 

"It's  their  national  song,"  whispered  Bjorn  to  Val- 
fried,  "I  asked  the  Herr  Director  to  play  it." 

"Oh,  Bjorn,  we're  just  children,  how  did  you  dare 


Sun  and  Shadow  113 

to  do  it?"  Valfried  whispered  back.  People  watched 
smilingly  the  two  eager  faces  of  the  American  chil- 
dren. Nore  spoke  to  Bjorn: 

"Shall  we  stand  up  too,  all  of  us  ?  I  think  perhaps 
they  would  like  it."  So  the  other  children  jumped 
up  also,  and  stood  there  with  Sven  and  Audrey  until 
the  last  strains  died  away. 

How  they  applauded!  "Oh,  that  was  wonderful 
of  the  Herr  Director!  How  I  love  him  for  it!"  ex- 
claimed Audrey,  rubbing  her  hands,  for  she  had 
clapped  until  they  hurt. 

"Bjorn  asked  them  to  do  it,  he  sent  a  note  to  the 
Herr  Director,"  said  Valfried,  knowing  it  would 
please  Bjorn  to  have  her  tell  them. 

"That  was  fine,  and  it  was  dandy  for  you  all  to 
stand  up  with  us.  We'll  do  the  same  for  you  when 
you  all  come  to  see  us  in  New  York  and  the  band  at 
Coney  Island  plays  'Du  Gamla  du  Friska,'  for  you !" 
This  from  Sven.  They  all  laughed  and  just  then  the 
music  caught  their  voices.  It  was  the  Finnish  March 
and  the  glory  of  it  boomed  through  the  still  cold  air. 

"There's  nothing  like  it  in  the  world!"  exclaimed 
Bjorn.  And  this  was  a  good  deal  for  him  to  say,  as 
he  did  not  care  for  music. 

As  the  melody  ceased  some  one  came  up  to  their 
table  and  stood  by  Nore,  someone  who  had  been 
watching  him  for  a  long  time,  ever  since  he  had 
joined  the  others  at  the  table.  It  was  a  man,  a  tall 
man  with  a  dark  unusual  face.  One  could  see  that 


ii4  Midsummer 

he  was  a  gentleman  and  a  foreigner.  He  touched 
Nore's  arm. 

"Who  are  you?"  he  asked.  He  spoke  in  a  low 
clear  voice  and  he  repeated  the  question:  "Who  are 
you,  please,  what  is  your  name?" 

Nore  stood  up  and  answered  him  in  his  simple 
way. 

"I'm  Nore  Carlson,  sir,"  he  said. 

"Where  do  you  live?" 

"Up  the  Skerries,  near  a  village  called  Boo." 

A  sudden  eagerness  came  into  the  man's  eyes  and 
vanished  as  quickly  as  it  came. 

"This  Boo,  then,  is  the  nearest  village  to  your 
home?" 

"Yes,  sir,  there  are  only  fishing  huts  and  some 
summer  villa;  Boo  is  a  few  miles  away." 

"Is  there  not  a  castle  there,  a  castle  on  some 
rocks?" 

Sven  and  Audrey  leaned  forward  in  their  interest 
as  the  stranger  said  these  last  words.  Audrey  was 
breathless.  If  Nore  was  at  all  surprised  at  being 
thus  questioned  he  did  not  show  it;  it  was  not  his 
way.  "Yes,  there  is  a  castle  there,  sir,"  he  answered. 

The  stranger  did  not  glance  at  the  others  at  the 
table.  "I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said  to  Nore,  "the 
music  must  have  bewildered  me."  He  hesitated, 
lifted  his  hat,  and  turned  away.  The  children 
watched  him  until  he  had  quite  disappeared  out  of 
the  entrance  gate.  They  talked  excitedly  among 


Sun  and  Shadow  115 

themselves  as  to  who  it  could  be.  Of  them  all  Nore 
seemed  the  least  curious,  but  in  reality  he  was  excit- 
ed. The  stranger  had  had  an  artist's  face,  he  had 
shown  such  interest;  what  could  it  mean? 

"He  must  have  thought  I  looked  like  someone  that 
he  knew,"  said  Nore  as  he  and  Axel  bade  good-bye 
to  the  others.  "It  has  been  a  splendid  time;  we've 
liked  it  the  best  of  any  of  our  fun,  so  far,"  he  said, 
speaking  for  his  bashful  friend  as  well  as  for  him- 
self. He  and  Axel  then  hurried  off,  as  they  had  pro- 
mised to  stay  in  with  Fru  Strom's  baby  so  that  she 
could  have  a  little  holiday  herself. 

It  was  nearly  eleven  o'clock  when  the  Zander  chil- 
dren and  their  guests  were  being  scolded  by  Lille- 
more  for  their  tardiness. 


CHAPTER  9 

Midsummer  Night 

"BjORN,  I  do  think  it  was  stupid  asking  Nore  Carl- 
son and  that  clumsy  Axel  to  sit  with  us  last  night." 

"Nonsense,  Val.  Nore  is  fine.  What  if  he  is  a 
fisher  lad?  We  all  like  and  admire  him  and  you 
know  it !" 

"Oh  I  like  him  well  enough — but — well  I  don't 
want  to  be  snobbish,  but  after  all  Ingeborg's  grand- 
mother was  lady-in-waiting  to  the  old  queen;  she 
must  have  thought  it  odd." 

"Ingeborg  and  Nils  are  not  snobs  even  if  you  are. 
I'm  ashamed  to  think  you're  my  sister,"  Bjorn  an- 
swered Valfried  angrily. 

"Frukust!"  called  Lillemore,  and  the  brother  and 
sister  turned  from  the  window  where  they  had  been 
standing  in  the  early  morning  light,  and  walked 
slowly  towards  the  hall.  Audrey  moved  quickly 
away  from  the  open  door  of  the  next  room,  ran  down 
the  hall  and  was  waiting  by  the  table  when  the  Zan- 
ders came  in.  She  had  unwittingly  overheard  their 
conversation  and  she  was  very  angry,  so  angry  that 
for  a  moment  she  could  not  speak.  Then  she  bade 

116 


Midsummer  Night  117 

Lillemore  a  cheerful  good-morning  and  even  man- 
aged a  smile  when  the  others  came  in.  They  must 
not  know  that,  much  against  her  will,  she  had  over- 
heard them. 

Lillemore  put  a  plate  of  hot  "platter"  down  on 
the  table,  little  Swedish  pancakes  of  which  they  were 
all  very  fond.  There  was  a  dish  of  wild  strawberry 
jam  to  eat  with  the  pancakes.  Ingeborg  and  Val- 
fried  had  put  on  their  best  white  dresses  in  honor 
of  midsummer  day.  Lillemore  thought  this  very 
foolish.  "They  will  be  quite  black  by  evening  time, 
when  you  wish  to  look  your  best,"  she  remonstrated, 
as  the  children  sat  down  to  breakfast. 

All  through  the  meal  Audrey  heard  the  others 
talking  and  joined  in,  now  and  then,  herself,  but  she 
wanted  to  be  alone.  She  wanted  to  think  over  the 
strange  happening  of  the  night  before. 

There  was  an  outdoor  bazaar  at  the  end  of  Strand- 
vagen  and  half  the  day  was  spent  there.  Audrey's 
head  ached  a  little,  the  sun  was  so  blinding,  the  cries 
of  the  fruit  venders  and  the  pancake  men,  so  pierc- 
ing. She  grew  tired  of  riding  on  the  merry-go-round, 
and  eating  slabs  of  shiny  gingerbread,  and  when 
Valfried  suggested  that  she  and  Ingeborg  go  in  and 
have  their  fortunes  told,  she  shook  her  head.  "I'm 
tired,  you  go  in  the  tent  without  me."  She  caught 
sight  of  Lillemore's  purple  dress  and  found  her 
swinging  Astrid,  who  kept  calling:  "I  want  to  go  as 
high  as  the  moon,  as  high  as  the  moon !" 


1 1 8  Midsummer 

It  was  cool  there  under  the  shade  trees  and  away 
from  the  glitter  and  noise.  "I'll  swing  Astrid,  you 
rest  awhile,  Lillemore,"  she  suggested  and  the  faith- 
ful nurse  assented  gladly,  mopping  her  purple  face 
as  she  sat  down  under  a  tree  with  her  knitting.  Aud- 
rey felt  happier  than  at  any  time  during  the  day.  She 
liked  being  with  little  Astrid,  enjoyed  her  delight  in 
the  swinging  and  laughed  at  her  quaint  sayings.  All 
sorts  of  thoughts  went  through  her  mind,  as  she 
swung  the  child,  back  and  forth. 

The  stranger  who  had  spoken  to  Nore — who  was 
he,  why  had  he  seemed  so  eager  and  puzzled  and 
hesitant  all  at  once?  Nore  had  ansswered  so  simply, 
"I'm  Nore  Carlson,  sir."  Of  course,  what  else  could 
he  answer?  He  was  Nore  Carlson.  If  only  the 
stranger  had  not  gone  away,  if  only  he  had  said  why 
he  wanted  to  know  about  Nore.  Valfried — her 
words  of  the  morning!  Oh  she  must  not  be  angry 
with  Valfried,  her  new  friend  who  was  so  kind  to  her, 
who  was  making  the  summer  such  a  happy  one  for 
her.  Gradually  the  anger  died  out  of  her  heart,  and 
when  the  others  ran  to  her  through  the  trees  and 
Valfried  called  joyously:  "It's  almost  midsummer 
afton,  Audrey,  midsummer  afton,"  she  too  smiled 
joyously.  Her  headache  was  forgotten  and  they  all 
went  home  to  make  ready  for  the  evening  in  the  best 
of  spirits. 

Lillemore  held  Astrid  firmly  by  the  hand  as  they 
started  for  Skansen  that  night.  Lillemore  had  a 


Midsummer  Night  119 

toothache  and  was  not  in  holiday  humor.  She  had 
expected  Maria,  the  house  maid,  to  go  with  them 
and  to  return  with  Astrid,  early  in  the  evening,  but 
Maria's  young  man  had  come  up  from  Skane  for  the 
holiday  and  she  had  begged  so  hard  to  have  the  eve- 
ning off,  that  Lillemore  had  not  had  the  heart  to 
refuse  her.  What  could  she  do!  Astrid  wore  her 
new  pink  and  white  dress  and  there  were  wide  pink 
ribbons  on  her  stiff  little  braids.  She  was  in  fine 
spirits  and  though  she  held  Lillemore's  hand  on  one 
side  she  held  Audrey's  on  the  other. 

The  boat  was  so  crowded  they  were  glad  to  be  on 
land  again.  It  was  twilight,  under  the  dense  foliage 
of  the  trees  at  Skansen,  delightful  there. 

Audrey  was  a  little  tired  of  the  brilliant  light,  and 
this  was  a  very  splendid  midsummer  night.  The  sky 
had  been  fearful  in  its  beauty  as  they  had  come  across 
the  bay  in  the  little  boat. 

What  joy  it  was  to  run  down  the  wood  paths  at 
Skansen,  music  and  laughter  sounding  everywhere, 
the  open  spaces,  the  caves  where  the  polar  bears 
lived,  the  caves  where  the  wild  cats  lived,  the  funny 
little  yellow-faced  Lapps,  in  their  huts !  It  was  all 
quite  different  from  any  park  that  the  Bradford  chil- 
dren had  ever  seen  before. 

"It's  like  an  enchanted  forest.  I  know  Nore  could 
make  up  a  wonderful  story  about  it,"  thought  Aud- 
rey. "Where  is  he,  I  wonder,  somewhere  with  that 
stupid  Axel,  I  suppose." 


1 20  Midsummer 

They  all  stood  by  the  cave  watching  the  baby  wild- 
cats. 

"The  little  Frokcn  may  hold  one  if  she  likes,"  said 
the  kindly  keeper  and  with  a  squeal  of  delight  Astrid 
held  out  her  arms  and  caught  close  to  her  heart  the 
sleek  baby  cat  with  its  tawny  skin  and  funnily 
marked  little  face. 

"Oh,  the  darling!"  They  all  crowded  around 
\<rid,  each  one  having  a  turn  at  holding  the  little 
animal,  and  the  boys  were  quite  as  delighted  as  the 
girls.  They  stayed  quite  a  while  talking  to  the  keep- 
er and  listening  to  the  roar  of  the  parent  cats  who 
glared  at  them  from  their  retreat  in  the  ca\  t  Then 
they  all  rode  behind  the  reindeer.  It  was  fun,  driv- 
ing along  in  the  sweet  night  air,  with  freedom  and 
laughter  and  the  holiday  spirit  all  about  them. 

"I  love  it  here,  I  love  it  here.  Oh,  Val,  I  can  never 
give  you  as  happy  a  time  as  this  when  you  and  Bjorn 
come  to  see  us  in  America,"  said  Audrey,  putting 
her  arm  lovingly  around  Valfried,  as  they  rode,  s 
by  side,  in  the  funny  little  red  and  green  Lapp  cart. 
She  had  forgotten  her  anger  of  the  morning.  Val- 
fried  was  her  dear  new  friend,  she  knew  in  her  heart 
of  hearts  that  no  one  could  be  more  generous  or  kind- 
ly than  Valfricd.  It  was  only  a  black  cloud  that  had 
passed  quickly  by,  the  sunshine  was  there,  just  the 
same. 

"Of  course,  you  can  give  us  wonderful  times  in 
America,  Audrey,  I'd  love  to  see  the  lights  you  tell 


Midsummer  Night  121 

about  at  Coney  Island,  all  the  funny  tilings  there. 
We're  just  different  here,  that's  all,  it's  new  to  you," 
answered  Valfried. 

After  a  while  they  were  ready  to  sit  quietly  in  one 
of  the  open  spaces  near  a  quaint  log  cabin,  waiting 
for  the  peasants  to  dance.  Suddenly  they  heard 
music,  and  around  a  corner  of  the  wood  came  an  odd 
old  man.  He  wore  a  long,  tan,  coat-like  garment, 
and  he  was  playing  a  fiddle.  Behind  him  came  the 
gayly  dressed  peasant  men  and  women  who  were  to 
dance.  Such  dancing  I 

Audrey  heard  the  stamp  of  their  feet  for  many 
nights  in  her  dreams,  and  the  clap  of  their  hands 
above  their  heads.  The  brilliant  costumes  of  the 
girls,  the  odd  tight  trousers  of  the  men,  the  quaint 
gay  music  of  the  old-time  dances,  were  all  a  part  of 
the  strange,  foreign  evening. 

When  the  dancing  was  over  they  found  that  poor 
Lillemore  was  in  tears;  her  tooth  was  worse  and  she 
was  afraid  she  would  have  to  go  home,  but  she  dared 
not  leave  them. 

"But  this  is  absurd,  Lillemore,"  said  Bjorn,  who 
was  very  much  the  head  of  the  house  since  they  had 
come  to  Stockholm.  "We  shall  be  perfectly  safe,  it 
won't  be  long  now  until  they  light  the  bonfire.  We're 
not  a  set  of  babies,  don't  you  suppose  I  can  take  bet- 
ter care  of  the  girls  than  you  ?  Of  course  you  must  go 
home  if  you  are  suffering!" 

"Come  then,  my  alskling,"  Lillemore  sobbed,  hold- 


122  Midsummer 

ing  out  her  hand  for  her  youngest  charge.  Then  the 
trouble  began  for  Astrid  refused  to  go. 

"Oh,  Bjorn,  Bjorn,  let  me  stay,  I've  never  seen  a 
bonfire.  Oh  Bjorn,  you  said  when  I  was  so  sick  with 
the  measles  you  would  do  anything  I  wanted  when 
I  was  well  again.  You  came  and  whispered  to  me 
when  no  one  was  looking  and  you  said,  'Get  well 
quick,  alskling,  and  we'll  have  a  fine  time  together; 
we'll  go  on  a  holiday,  just  you  and  I.'  "  Her  sobs 
increased  as  she  went  on,  the  others  standing  around 
her.  "You  said,  'We'll  go  to  the  indoor  circus  and 
see  the  French  clown' — Oh  this  is  much,  much  better 
than  a  circus  I" 

Bjorn  looked  annoyed  and  shamefaced.  Astrid's 
sobs  could  be  heard  by  all  the  passersby  and  he  hated 
a  scene. 

"Oh,  let  her  stay,"  he  said  roughly.  "She's  a  nuis- 
ance, why  didn't  mother  take  her  to  Jevla?  She's 
always  been  spoiled  and  she  always  will  be;  never 
mind,  go  on  Lillemore,  we'll  keep  her." 

The  unwilling  but  suffering  Lillemore  took  her 
departure  and  the  children  found  themselves  alone. 
Astrid  was  all  smiles  as  soon  as  she  realized  that  she 
was  really  to  stay.  Audrey  took  her  hand. 

"Stay  close  to  me  all  the  time,  and  I'll  see  that  you 
have  all  the  fun,"  she  told  the  little  girl. 

The  crowds  were  growing  and  suddenly  it  seemed 
as  though  there  were  millions  of  people.  The  whole 
park  grew  black  with  them,  and  the  noise  of  many 


Midsummer  Night  123 

voices  talking  at  once  in  loud  excited  tones  showed 
that  they  were  making  ready  for  the  bonfire. 

It  was  laid  in  a  huge  open  space,  the  great  logs 
were  piled  high  and  the  wood  and  brush  still  higher. 
They  had  been  soaked  with  oil  and  there  would  be 
nothing  to  do  but  put  a  torch  to  them,  at  the  last 
moment. 

"It's  like  the  old,  old  days.  You  know,  Audrey 
and  Sven.  The  old,  old  men  who  worshipped  the  sun- 
god,  Balder,  lit  a  great  fire  as  an  emblem  that  he 
could  destroy  the  powers  of  darkness,"  Ingeborg 
whispered  to  Audrey,  as  they  stood  waiting. 

"Hush,"  whispered  Bjorn. 

There  was  silence,  such  silence!  There  in  the 
forest  not  a  leaf  seemed  to  move,  the  birds  were  still. 
There  was  not  even  the  roar  of  a  wild  cat  in  the 
distance.  Tense  silence,  the  great  mass  of  people, 
thousands  of  them  stood  like  statues. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  noise,  a  strange  heavy  muf- 
fled startling  noise  and  the  huge  scarlet  and  gold 
flames  leaped,  it  seemed,  to  the  very  sky  itself.  Inge- 
borg, Audrey  and  Valfried  stood  close  together  and 
Astrid  hid  her  face  in  Audrey's  dress.  Audrey 
looked  down  at  her. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  baby  dear,  it's  beautiful,  it  won't 
hurt  you !"  she  whispered. 

"I'm  not  afraid,"  said  Astrid,  stoutly,  lifting  her 
face.  She  would  not  for  the  world  act  differently 
from  the  older  ones. 


1 24  Midsummer 

The  flames  leaped  up,  soared,  and  then  there  came 
the  sound  of  men's  voices  singing  in  a  mighty  chorus : 

"Hor  oss,  Sven,  moder  av  oss  alia,  hor  oss, 
hor  oss." 

When  the  voices  ceased  there  was  silence  and  then 
a  great  cheer  rose  and  swelled. 

It  was  then,  when  Audrey  was  shouting  with  the 
rest,  that  Astrid  saw  the  pancake  man.  She  had 
liked  the  bonfire,  but  she  was  tired  and  she  was  hun- 
gry. Audrey  had  lifted  her  arms  to  wave  them  as 
the  others  did,  and  Astrid  ran  down  the  path  after 
the  pancake  man.  She  would  buy  them  all  pancakes 
with  the  ore  Bjorn  had  given  her,  early  in  the  eve- 
ning; then  she  would  run  right  back  and  surprise 
them. 

But  the  pancake  man,  in  spite  of  his  cart,  walked 
quickly.  In  a  few  moments  the  crowd  would  be  mak- 
ing for  the  boats,  and  he  wanted  to  be  there  with 
his  wares.  There  was  still  a  chance  of  doing  some 
good  business. 

Astrid  almost  caught  up  with  him,  once  or  twice, 
but  he  hopped  along  so  briskly  that,  hurry  as  fast 
as  she  could,  he  seemed  always  just  beyond  her  reach. 
It  was  no  use,  she  would  have  to  do  without  the  pan- 
cakes. She  turned  to  go  back,  was  caught  up  in  the 
whirling,  rushing  onslaught  of  the  crowd,  now  com- 
ing in  masses  towards  the  boats,  and  in  spite  of  her- 
self was  carried  along  with  it,  away  from  the  world 
she  knew,  the  world  of  constant  loving  attention. 


Midsummer  Night  125 

A  moment  after  Astrid  disappeared,  Audrey  dis- 
covered she  was  gone.  She  turned  to  the  others, 
thinking  the  child  had  pushed  in  between  them ;  then, 
not  seeing  her,  she  exclaimed  in  a  quick,  startled  way: 
"Where's  Astrid?" 

Where  was  she  indeed !  There  were  quick  ques- 
tions, a  darting  here  and  there,  then  Audrey  said 
decidedly:  "We  simply  must  stay  together  for  a 
moment,  or  we'll  lose  each  other;  if  we  stay  where 
she  left  us,  she  may  come  running  back  in  a  second." 
Audrey's  voice  was  drowned  by  the  sound  of  many 
voices,  the  crowd  had  started  and  the  children  could 
only  rush  back  behind  some  trees  and  wait  until  the 
great  seething  mass  had  passed.  As  soon  as  the 
crowd  had  thinned  they  came  out  and  stood,  a  fright- 
ened little  group,  at  the  side  of  a  wood  path.  Val- 
fried  Was  sobbing  hysterically.  Bjorn's  freckles 
stood  out  oddly  on  his  sober  boyish  face,  he  was  very 
pale  and  it  gave  him  a  strange  sort  of  look,  he  did 
not  seem  like  Bjorn  at  all. 

"There  is  only  one  thing  we  can  do,  remember 
this  one  spot,  here  by  the  path  leading  to  the  wild 
cat  cave,  and  come  back  to  it  after  we  have  hunted 
for  an  hour,"  Audrey  said,  putting  her  arm  around 
Valfried.  "It's  my  fault,  I  forgot  her  for  a  minute, 
I  promised  your  mother  to  take  care  of  her."  Aud- 
rey's voice  shook  a  little  as  she  spoke,  but  she  did 
not  cry. 

"Nonsense,  it  was  our  fault,  Val's  and  mine.    We 


126  Midsummer 

didn't  want  her  to  come  along  to  Stockholm,  we 
haven't  tried  to  look  after  her  or  to  give  her  a  good 
time,"  said  Bjorn.  Valfried  sobbed  louder  than 
ever,  at  this,  and  Audrey  cried  out  impatiently:  "Do 
stop  crying,  Val,  we'll  never  find  Astrid  if  you  don't. 
Why  don't  you  go  to  the  police  station,  Bjorn,  right 
away?  In  the  meantime  we'll  be  looking  everywhere 
here  in  the  park  and  we  can  meet  at  the  wild  cat  cage 
in  an  hour's  time."  Bjorn  was  off  almost  before  she 
finished  speaking,  and  the  others  started  in  different 
directions,  down  the  wood  paths,  promising  to  meet 
again,  in  an  hour. 

"We  can  keep  track  of  the  time  by  the  tower 
clock,"  said  Sven.  He  was  of  course  sorry  that  Astrid 
was  lost  but  confident  that  she  would  be  found,  and 
in  the  meantime,  hunting  for  her  was  quite  exciting. 
Sven  would  not  have  admitted  for  the  world  that  he 
enjoyed  the  situation,  but  such  was  almost  the  case! 

It  was  not  so  with  Audrey.  She  felt  that  she  had 
failed  in  her  promise  to  Fru  Zander  and  there  was 
a  lump  in  her  throat  as  she  ran  down  the  paths. 

"Astrid,  Astrid,  it's  Audrey,  where  are  you,  baby?" 
she  called  again  and  again. 

The  trees  and  shrubs  stood  out  oddly  in  the  deep- 
ening light.  How  very  dear,  funny  little  Astrid  had 
suddenly  become.  Had  they  ever  really  thought  her 
in  the  way?  Valfried  caught  her  breath  in  sobs  as 
she  too  went  through  the  wood.  Now  and  then  she 
paused  to  ask  a  passerby  if  he  or  she  had  seen  a  little 


Midsummer  Night  127 

girl  in  a  pink  and  white  checked  dress,  carrying  a 
doll,  a  little  girl  with  flaxen  pigtails,  but  no  one  had 
noticed  her. 

"Astrid,  it's  Audrey,  where  are  you,  baby?"  A 
sob  rose  to  Audrey's  lips  but  she  choked  it  back. 
Stockholm  was  a  big  city,  and  the  midsummer  crowds ! 
People  from  all  the  countryside,  from  Copenhagen 
and  Christiana,  from  the  south  of  Sweden,  and  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Europe.  Never  in  New  York,  Aud- 
rey thought,  had  she  seen  such  black  masses  of  peo- 
ple. Astrid  was  such  a  very  little  girl,  so  small  and 
plump,  with  such  a  baby  face,  so  sheltered  and  pet- 
ted. Still,  she  had  a  wise  little  head  on  her  should- 
ers, perhaps  she  was  already  home ! 

This  thought  so  comforted  Audrey  that  she  ran 
back  to  their  meeting  place.  The  other  girls  were 
already  there  and  Nils  and  Sven  were  coming  up  the 
path.  Valfried  was  a  little  comforted  by  Audrey's 
suggestion  tfiat  Astrid  had  reached  home,  though 
they  all  knew  in  their  hearts  that  this  was  very  doubt- 
ful. They  were  so  tired  that  they  sat  down  under  a 
tree  to  wait  for  Bjorn,  there  by  the  wild  cat  cage. 


CHAPTER  10 

Eugene 

WHEN  Astrid  saw  the  boats  waiting  she  was  glad  to 
be  borne  along  by  the  crowd.  The  boat  would  take 
her  home !  She  was  out  alone,  in  the  middle  of  the 
night;  she  had  always  wanted  to  be  doing  just  this 
thing.  If  only  the  crowds  were  not  so  big!  People 
jostled  her,  sometimes  she  did  not  walk  at  all,  she 
seemed  to  be  carried  along.  The  boat  too  was  very 
uncomfortable,  and  some  men  were  quarreling  with 
loud  voices.  She  crept  away  to  a  coil  of  ropes  and 
sat  there,  the  Tomte  doll  held  firmly  against  her 
side.  She  was  very  cold,  her  new  dress  was  soiled 
and  she  had  lost  her  blue  jacket.  She  had  laid  it 
down  somewhere  and  had  forgotten  it. 

Very  soon  they  reached  the  landing  and  Astrid 
found  herself  on  shore.  As  she  stood  there,  on  the 
wind  swept  wharf,  she  looked  about  her  in  bewilder- 
ment. Then  she  suddenly  realized  what  she  had 
done,  she  had  followed  the  crowd  to  a  boat  that 
sailed  over  to  the  very  old  part  of  the  city.  She  had 
heard  of  it,  she  knew  that  it  was  very  old  and  strange 
and  that  many  of  the  poorer  people  lived  there  but 

128 


ASTRID  HAD  NEVER  SEEN  A  STREET  LIKE  THIS  BEFORE. 


Eugene  1 29 

she  had  never  been  there.  Oh,  she  had  felt  so  sure 
that  the  boat  would  take  her  near  home!  A  sense 
of  great  desolation  touched  her,  she  grew  suddenly 
confused.  Twice  she  started  to  speak  to  some  one 
passing  her  but  no  one  noticed  her.  Other  children 
were  being  hustled  into  waiting  cars  for  home  and 
bed. 

Astrid  followed  the  crowd  up  the  very  steep  stone 
steps,  and,  weary  of  the  jostle  and  noise,  she  turned 
down  a  quiet  street  off  the  big  one  where  everything 
seemed  whirling  and  turning  and  shouting.  If  the 
crowds  had  not  been  so  great,  some  woman  very 
probably  would  have  noticed' her,  but  huddled  as  she 
was,  among  them  all,  no  one  had  realized  that  she 
was  alone. 

It  was  a  very  narrow  quiet  street  into  which  she 
had  turned.  The  houses  were  dark  and  still  on  each 
side  of  it.  She  had  never  seen  a  street  like  it  before 
and  she  started  to  turn  back.  Just  then  there  was 
loud  rough  laughter  from  the  direction  she  had  come. 
Perhaps  the  quarreling  men  on  the  boat  were  follow- 
ing her!  Perhaps  they  would  kidnap  her!  Bjorn 
had  read  her  a  story  of  some  men  who  had  stolen  a 
boy  and  taken  him  on  a  pirate  boat  out  to  sea ! 

In  a  sudden  wild  fear,  borne  of  her  fatigue  and 
loneliness,  she  started  to  run.  She  ran  on  and  on. 
It  seemed  as  though  she  could  never  stop,  but  at  last 
her  sturdy  little  legs  could  go  no  farther.  She  had 
run  on,  unseeing,  in  and  out  of  odd  crooked  streets, 


130  Midsummer 

farther  and  farther  away  from  all  things  familiar. 
She  sank  down,  at  last,  on  a  cold  stone  doorstep. 
For  some  time  she  breathed  deeply  and  then  she  be- 
gan to  cry.  She  held  the  Tomte  doll  close  in  her 
arms  and  her  tears  fell  on  his  kindly  painted  face 
and  beard. 

"There's  just  you  and  me,  Tomte,  there's  just 
you  and  me,  we're  losted  from  our  dear  family.  Oh, 
I  want  my  family."  She  sobbed  quite  out  loud  as  she 
spoke  to  the  Tomte.  "When  we  get  home  again 
we'll  always  hold  on  to  somebody's  hand,"  she 
scbbed. 

It  was  like  twilight  where  she  was,  for  the  houses 
were  so  close  together  and  so  very  dark  and  the 
street  was  so  narrow  that  it  was  like  a  little  winding 
lane  between  mountains,  to  the  tired  child. 

Suddenly  she  heard  steps,  the  tap  of  a  cane  and 
someone  singing  softly  quite  a  charming  air: 
"L'amour  est  enfante  de  boheme." 

Astrid  looked  up.  Someone  was  coming  down  the 
street  towards  her.  He  stopped  in  front  of  her  and 
stood  looking  down  at  her,  still  humming  the  song. 
He  spoke  to  her  quickly  in  a  language  she  did  not 
understand,  then  said  a  few  halting  sentences  in 
Swedish.  Astrid  was  not  frightened,  for  she  looked 
up  and  saw  his  face  which  was  quite  gentle  in  spite 
of  being  so  dark  and  strange.  Suddenly  a  feeling  of 
comfort  came  to  her.  "I  can  speak  English,"  she 
said. 


Eugene  131 

"Splendid !"  exclaimed  the  stranger.  "Then  we 
shall  make  friends  at  once.  I  too  know  the  language, 
a  hard  one,  hard  and  sure,  yet  oddly  full  of  beauty, 
still."  He  smiled  down  at  Astrid  and  she  smiled  up 
at  him  with  her  tear-drenched  blue  eyes.  She  had 
not  understood  just  what  he  meant,  but  she  was  glad 
he  spoke  English  and  she  saw  that  he  was  friendly. 

"Isn't  it  a  little  late  for  you  to  be  abroad?"  He 
looked  down  at  her  thin  frock  and  at  the  doll  in  her 
arms.  "It  is,  I  believe,  generally  the  custom  for  such 
a  very  young  lady  to  be  asleep  at  this  hour." 

"I'm  lost,"  explained  Astrid.  "Tomte  and  I  are 
lost."  She  tried  to  smile  up  at  him  again  but  this 
time  her  chin  quivered  and  two  very  big  tears 
splashed  down  upon  the  ever  faithful  Tomte. 

"Many  lost  things  are  found,  you  know,  some  are 
not — hearts,  for  instance,  once  lost  are  usually  gone 
for  all  time — but  come — you  are  cold !" 

"And  hungry,"  said  Astrid. 

The  man  laughed  softly.  "We  can  remedy  that 
at  least,  come  inside  with  me."  She  jumped  up 
eagerly  and  took  the  hand  he  held  out  to  her.  He 
unlocked  the  outer  door  and  they  stepped  into  the 
silent,  dark  hall.  It  was  a  very  old  building.  A 
sleepy  portvack  put  his  head  outside  the  little  win- 
dow at  the  top  of  the  door  at  the  left,  saw  Astrid  and 
the  stranger,  and  shut  the  little  door  together  again 
with  a  bang.  He  had  been  out  on  a  holiday  himself 
and  he  was  just  going  to  bed. 


132  Midsummer 

They  started  to  walk  up  the  stairs,  but  almost  at 
once  the  man  said  to  Astrid :  "You  are  tired,  I  will 
carry  you."  He  lifted  her  in  his  arms  and  climbed 
with  her  up  the  very  steep  winding  stairs.  He  still 
sang  softly  but  Astrid  did  not  hear  his  song,  for  she 
was  fast  asleep  as  soon  as  her  head  touched  his 
shoulder. 

The  stranger  unlocked  the  door  of  his  room,  still 
holding  the  child  in  the  curve  of  his  arm.  He  went 
through  a  narrow  hall  into  a  long  high  ceilinged 
room  which  was  quite  bare  except  for  a  couch  in  one 
corner,  a  chair  or  two,  a  table  and  an  easel  in  an- 
other corner.  There  was  a  rug  on  the  floor,  a  very 
soft,  beautiful  rug,  and  on  the  wall  were  many  un- 
framed  pictures.  Several  half-finished  ones  stood 
against  the  wall,  and  they  were  covered  with  cloths 
to  keep  them  from  the  dust. 

The  man  laid  Astrid  down  on  the  couch  and  going 
over  to  a  cupboard  in  the  hall  just  off  the  room,  he 
brought  back  a  covering  and  tucked  it  gently  about 
the  little  sleeping  girl.  It  was  a  soft  rug  of  woven 
rose  and  blue  silk  and  it  glowed  in  the  dim  light  of 
the  odd  old  room,  like  a  brilliant  flower.  Then  he 
began  to  build  a  fire  in  the  tall,  white  stove  that 
gleamed  in  the  corner  near  the  door.  He  let  a  heavy 
piece  of  wood  fall  on  the  floor  and  the  noise  woke 
Astrid.  She  sat  up  a  little  dazed. 

"How  clumsy  of  me  to  waken  the  sleeping  prin- 
cess," said  her  benefactor  coming  quickly  over  to  the 


Eugene  133 

couch.  "But  now  that  you  are  awake,  do  you  think 
you  could  stay  so  for  a  bit,  just  long  enough  for  us 
to  break  bread  together?" 

Astrid  yawned  and  smiled.  "Is  this  your  house?" 
she  asked. 

"Yes,  my  studio,  where  I  paint  pictures." 

He  went  over  to  another  cupboard  behind  the  door 
and  brought  out  a  dull  green  cloth  and  some  white 
plates,  knives  and  forks.  Then  he  turned  and  looked 
at  Astrid.  "I'm  afraid  there  is  only  a  box  of  sar- 
dines and  some  cheese.  I've  been  busy  working  out 
something  the  last  few  days  and  I  let  Domski,  my 
servant,  go  out  for  the  whole  day.  There  is  no  milk 
and  no  way  of  fetching  any  for  some  hours."  He 
looked  worried  and  was  relieved  when  Astrid  ran 
over  to  him  eagerly.  "I  hate  milk,  I  love  cheese  and 
sardines."  She  said  this  daringly,  with  Lillemore's 
scandalized  face  coming  before  her  in  her  imagina- 
tion. "Let's  have  a  nice  time,  lovely  cheese  and  sar- 
dines. I  can  set  the  table."  She  hummed  a  little  tune, 
had  quite  waked  up  at  the  thought  of  something  to 
eat,  and  started  to  put  the  plates  straight  and  the 
knives  and  forks  beside  them. 

"But  you  are  splendid,  you  are  a  real  housewife," 
exclaimed  her  new  friend. 

They  made  a  merry  meal.  Her  new  friend  brewed 
some  coffee  in  a  copper  arrangement  which  he  told 
Astrid  was  a  samovar.  They  both  watched  it  with 
interest  and  Astrid  grew  more  and  more  wide  awake 


134  Midsummer 

and  talkative.  Before  the  coffee  was  ready,  her  res- 
cuer knew  that  she  had  a  big  brother,  a  sister,  very 
good  parents  and  a  nurse  named  Lillemore  who  was 
very  fat.  He  knew  about  Sunhem  and  the  garden, 
was  told  that  she  had  ten  whole  dolls  and  two 
that  would  be  all  right  as  soon  as  they  were 
mended. 

"Now  you  tell  something,"  she  demanded,  as  she 
paused  for  breath.  Now  that  she  was  no  longer 
alone  and  hungry,  her  spirits  rose.  She  liked  talk- 
ing to  the  stranger  who  listened  so  politely  to  all  she 
said.  She  had  never  been  allowed  to  talk  so  much 
before,  no  one  had  ever  listened  just  as  though  she 
were  a  grown  up  person.  She  had  always  been  just 
little  Astrid,  the  baby,  but  her  new  friend  talked  to 
her  as  though  she  were  a  grown  up  lady.  He  poured 
her  out  a  small  cup  of  coffee  that  was  delightful. 
It  tasted  bitter  but  she  sipped  a  little  and  pretended 
that  she  liked  it. 

The  man  smiled  when  she  asked  him  to  tell  about 
himself.  He  had  a  nice  smile  but  even  the  child 
could  see  that  it  was  a  sad  one. 

"You've  told  me  that  your  name  is  Astrid.  Well, 
mine  is  Eugene.  I'm  an  artist,  I  make  pictures,  some 
that  I  see  and  some  that  I  dream."  He  smiled  again 
delightfully  at  Astrid.  Her  hair  had  become  un- 
braided  and  stood  out  in  flaxen  wings,  each  side  of 
her  head.  There  was  a  black  spot  on  her  chin  of 
which  she  was  quite  unconscious.  Her  friend  leaned 


Eugene  135 

forward  suddenly  and  gently  brushed  it  off  with  his 
handkerchief,  which  smelled  of  Russian  leather. 

"Pardon,"  said  Eugene,  uyou  make  a  picture,  you 
see;  a  picture  of  youth  and  mischief,  of  sun  and  How- 
els — only  the  black  spot,  it  does  not  belong." 

The  excitement  and  fatigue  made  her  round  cheeks 
very  rosy.  She  liked  being  told  she  was  a  picture, 
no  one  had  ever  told  her  that  before. 

Suddenly  she  jumped  up,  ran  over  to  the  couch, 
and  came  back  with  the  Tomte  doll  in  her  arms. 

"I  forgot  poor  Tomte,  he  was  simply  tired  out, 
he's  never  been  out  all  night  before,  you  know."  She 
sat  him  on  her  knee  and  held  up  a  bit  of  bread  and 
sardine  to  his  smiling  face. 

"And  you?"  asked  Eugene,  "are  you  perhaps  in 
the  habit  of  spending  your  nights  in  running  down 
strange  streets  and  sitting  on  cold  doorsteps?"  He 
sipped  his  coffee  and  looked  at  the  child  quizzically. 
She  knew  that  he  was  joking  though  he  did  not  smile. 

"IVe  never  done  anything  alone,  I'm  the  youngest 
and  they're  always  watching  me." 

"Tell  me  now  where  I  am  to  telephone,  so  that 
I  can  let  your  nurse  know  that  you  are  safe.  They  will 
all  be  frightened,  we  must  tell  them  that  you  have 
found  a  friend,"  said  Eugene. 

"Strandvagen  is  where  our  home  is,  I  can't  think 
of  the  number.  Let's  wait  till  it's  tomorrow." 
Eugene  smiled.  "It  is  that  already,  but  I  will  wait 
for  an  hour.  It  will  teach  them  to  be  more  careful 


136  Midsummer 

of  you  next  time."  He  went  over  to  the  phone  and 
looked  in  the  book.  "Bjorn  Zander  is  your  father's 
name ;  yes,  here  it  is.  After  all,  it  is  not  kind  to  keep 
them  in  suspense."  He  called  the  number  and  wait- 
ed. There  was  no  reply !  Were  they  all  out  hunting? 

"I  will  try  again  later.  You  will  be  glad  to  see 
your  home." 

"Sunhem  is  my  real  home,  Audrey  and  Sven  love 
it.  Audrey  says  the  brownies  made  the  garden,  we 
just  pretend  that.  There  isn't  any  garden  where  her 
grandfather  lives  in  the  castle  on  the  rocks." 

Eugene  came  towards  her.  "What  castle?"  he 
asked.  He  drew  a  cigarette  case  from  his  pocket  and 
taking  one  out,  looked  at  Astrid.  "May  I  smoke?" 
he  queried.  Astrid  smiled  delightedly.  Then  he 
asked  again.  "What  castle,  little  friend?" 

Astrid  looked  up  at  him  with  sleepy  blue  eyes. 
"Why,  the  castle  on  the  rocks  where  Audrey  and 
Sven's  grandfather  lives.  They  came  all  the  way  from 
America  to  see  him,  but  he's  a  cross  grandfather, 
not  a  nice  one,  like  our's."  She  put  her  head  down 
on  her  arm.  Then  she  turned  and  looked  at  him, 
her  little  flaxen  head  still  resting  on  her  arms.  "I'm 
glad  you  found  me.  You  are  a  nice  man.  You  are 
like  the  fairy  prince  that  rescued  the  goose  girl,  in 
a  story  Valfried  read,  only  he  had  golden  curls."  She 
was  so  nearly  asleep  that  her  voice  trailed  on  the 
last  words. 

"You  are  so  tired  then,  ah,  poor  baby!"    Again 


Eugene  137 

Eugene  lifted  her  and  put  her  on  the  couch,  covering 
her  with  the  rug.  He  stood  for  a  moment,  looking 
down  at  her. 

"What  an  odd  baby,  what  a  good  little  comrade," 
he  thought.  Then  he  went  over  to  the  window  and 
stood  looking  down  at  the  still  grey  houses,  at  the 
narrow,  cobbled,  crooked  street,  gilded  now  with 
green  and  gold,  for  it  was  early  morning,  and  the 
sun  had  only  faded  for  a  brief  twilight  time,  that 
midsummer  night. 

"The  castle  on  the  rocks,"  he  said  half  aloud. 
"Strange  if  it  should  be  so — children  coming  from 
America  to  see  a  grandfather  who  lives  in  a  castle 
on  the  rocks,  eh  bien — the  loom  will  weave  itself." 

He  stood  for  a  long  time  there  at  the  window, 
his  cigarette  unnoticed  in  his  hand,  and  the  sadness 
in  his  eyes  was  deep  and  the  firmness  of  his  lips 
showed  grimly. 


CHAPTER  ii 

By  the  Palace  Steps 

"I'M  TOO  sleepy  to  stay  here  another  second.  Let's 
catch  the  next  boat."  Axel  yawned  as  he  spoke,  pull- 
ing Nore's  arm.  "Come  on,  come  on,  Nore.  Every 
one  is  leaving." 

"I'm  not  sleepy,  but  come  on  if  you  like.  Only 
mind  you,  I'll  leave  you  on  the  other  side  of  the  bay. 
I  don't  want  to  go  to  bed.  I  want  to — Oh — look 
around." 

The  two  friends  were  walking  towards  the  boats 
as  they  talked,  and  they  finally  stood  waiting  with 
the  crowd  as  their  boat  chugged  at  the  landing. 

"We'd  better  buy  something  to  eat  on  the  boat, 
I'm  starved,"  suggested  Axel. 

"So  am  I,"  answered  Nore,  putting  some  coins 
into  the  eager  hand  of  a  funny  old  apple  woman, 
who  stood  at  one  side  of  the  crowd.  She  was  a  very 
old  woman  indeed,  and  she  sang  a  queer  sort  of  song 
as  she  stood  there,  selling  her  apples  and  pepparka- 
kor.  Axel  bought  a  bag  filled  with  the  latter  delicacy. 

Some  loiterers  about  the  entrance  gate  stared  at 

138 


By  the  Palace  Steps  139 

the  old  woman  curiously,  and  asked  her  if  she  told 
fortunes.  She  laughed  shrilly.  "When  the  money 
is  good,  why  not,"  she  cried.  She  laughed  again 
loudly  and  waved  towards  Nore  as  the  crowd  began 
to  move  slowly  towards  the  boat. 

"The  gold-haired  lad,  he  does  not  care  to  have 
his  fortune  told.  He  has  secrets  behind  him,  secrets 
and  shadows,"  she  shrilled.  Her  voice  was  drowned 
by  the  loud  whistling  of  the  boat  horn. 

When  they  landed  Axel  said  he  was  going  at  once 
to  the  Konditori  and  to  bed. 

"You  go  on,  then,  Axel,  I'll  look  about  for 
awhile,"  said  Nore.  And  so  Axel  went  off  towards 
their  shelter  at  Fru  Strom's  and  Nore  climbed  the 
steep  steps  back  of  the  palace  where  they  had  landed 
and  walked  slowly  across  the  bridge. 

A  big  clock  somewhere  struck  three.  Under  the 
great  bridge  the  Baltic  Sea  and  the  Malar  Lake  met 
with  an  angry  foaming  rush.  The  harbor  was  swept 
with  shadows  and  with  bright  flashes  of  red  and 
gold.  The  sun  shone  boldly,  silvering  the  church 
spires  of  the  city  and  the  masts  of  the  many  ships 
that  lay  about  in  the  harbor.  Old  Ridderholm 
Church,  where  so  many  long  ago  kings  were  buried, 
seemed  a  massive  etching  of  black  and  silver  against 
the  rose  and  violet  of  the  sky. 

Nore  stayed  for  some  time  on  the  bridge  for,  as 
it  grew  later,  there  was  much  to  see.  Boats  began 
to  come  in.  One,  a  big  tourist  steamer  from  Russia, 


140  Midsummer 

steamed  in  slowly  and  anchored  so  near  that  he  could 
hear  the  shouting  back  and  forth  and  even  smell  the 
coffee  for  breakfast.  This  made  him  realize  that 
he  was  very  hungry,  and  he  remembered  what  good 
coffee  and  what  spicy  sugar  and  annis  seed  coffee- 
bread  Fru  Strom  could  make.  It  was  still  too  early 
for  breakfast  of  course,  but  he  would  sleep  for 
awhile. 

"I  don't  want  to  waste  time  sleeping,"  he  thought, 
"I  want  to  see  things  all  the  time,  and  I'm  going  to 
the  museum  for  the  afternoon."  His  love  of  pic- 
tures was  greater  than  anything  he  knew,  except  his 
love  for  his  mother.  The  first  day  that  he  had  come 
it  had  been  possible  for  him  to  do  a  service  for  an 
American  tourist,  a  lady  who  had  lost  her  tickets  and 
had  great  difficulty  in  making  herself  understood. 
He  had  spent  some  time  in  helping  her,  had  inter- 
preted for  her,  and  sent  some  wires  for  her.  To 
him  it  had  been  simply  a  little  adventure  to  think 
about  afterwards,  and  to  tell  Thure  and  Marta  and 
Karl  about,  but  the  lady  had  been  very  grateful  and 
had  given  him  five  kronar.  He  had  refused  it  at 
first,  had  been  a  little  angry  that  she  had  offered  it. 
He  could  not  have  quite  told  why.  Then,  he  had 
thought  of  the  presents  he  could  buy  for  his  mother 
and  the  children,  and  he  had  taken  what  the  lady 
offered. 

As  he  walked  across  the  bridge  he  thought  of  old 
Birger  Jarl,  the  long  ago  king,  who  had  founded 


By  the  Palace  Steps  141 

Stockholm.  Nore  had  read  of  him  in  his  history, 
but  he  liked  best  to  weave  his  own  dreams  about  him 
whose  vision  had  seen  what  a  wonderful  city  could 
be  made  upon  the  seven  islands,  a  city  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  quiet  Malar  Lake  and  the  wild  Baltic. 
Long  ago  was  the  dream  of  the  old  king,  but  now 
it  stood,  a  proud  city  upon  the  islands,  and  it  held 
in  its  heart  treasures  untold,  spoils  of  the  Viking 
wars.  "Who  knows/'  thought  Nore,  "even  treasure 
of  the  Gods,  of  Odin  and  Thor." 

As  he  left  the  bridge  and  turned  to  go  down  the 
steps  at  one  side  of  the  palace,  he  heard  shrill  voices 
and  saw  a  group  of  boys  standing  in  a  shadow  of 
the  old  building.  They  were  calling  out,  mockingly, 
and  were  dancing  around  someone  who  stood  in  their 
midst.  As  he  came  nearer,  Nore  saw  that  it  was  a 
very  odd-looking,  dark-faced  boy.  He  was  hump- 
backed, and  he  had  a  long  pale  face,  and  black  eyes 
that  snapped  angrily.  He  spoke  very  quickly  in  a 
foreign  tongue,  and  the  faster  he  spoke,  the  louder 
was  the  laughter. 

"Let's  see  what  you're  carrying.  You're  stealing 
good  Swedish  food,  I'll  wager  that,"  jeered  one  of 
the.  boys. 

"Don't  gabble  your  Russian  at  us!"  another  called 
angrily. 

The  boy  knew  a  little  Swedish,  but  in  his  excite- 
ment and  anger  he  thought  only  of  his  mother 
tongue.  As  Nore  came  up  to  the  group,  the  Russian 


142  Midsummer 

lad  managed  to  find  some  Swedish  words  and  he 
almost  shrieked  them  out: 

"I  will  tell  my  master.  He  is  famous.  He  is 
strong.  He  is  better  in  his  one  hand  than  you  are 
all  together.  He  will  not  let  you  insult  me!" 

"Cry  baby!  Think  of  a  Swedish  boy  crying!"  one 
of  them  jeered. 

"And  think  of  a  Swedish  boy  being  a  bully !  What 
a  good  thought  for  the  army!  How  proud  it  will 
be  of  you  all  some  day !"  Nore  had  come  up  with- 
out their  noticing  him.  They  turned  on  him  quickly 
as  he  spoke,  and  he  smiled  at  them  a  little  insolently 
as  he  stood  there  in  the  dancing  sunlight.  Then  he 
stepped  into  the  shadow  and  spoke  to  the  boy.  "It's 
all  right.  Don't  mind  them,"  he  said.  Then  he  turned 
again  and  looked  at  the  tallest  boy  who  stood  nearest 
him.  "You're  a  decent  lot,  aren't  you!"  he  said. 

One  of  the  boys  looked  ashamed.  "Of  course  we 
didn't  touch  him.  We  would  not  hurt  him,  because 
he's  lame.  He  began  by  telling  us  we  had  no  man- 
ners when  we  didn't  pick  up  his  bundles  for  him 
when  they  fell."  One  of  the  others  laughed  at  this, 
and  even  Nore  smiled.  Before  he  spoke  again,  they 
had  turned  away.  The  tall  boy  called  back  over  his 
shoulder, 

"We  were  only  teasing,  but  you  Russians  hate  be- 
ing teased." 

The  Russian  lad  stood  holding  his  bundles  close 
against  him,  looking  up  gratefully  at  Nore. 


By  the  Palace  Steps  143 

"They're  not  really  bad  boys.  He  was  right. 
They  wouldn't  have  hurt  me  because  I'm  lame,  but 
they  do  not  like  me."  He  and  Nore  both  stood  there 
and  laughed  in  the  sunshine,  they  couldn't  have  told 
why.  It  was  a  jolly  morning,  the  beginning  of  an- 
other fine  day  and  they  were  both  young. 

"They  were  just  stupid.  They  didn't  think.  But 
come,  give  me  some  of  your  bundles.  I'll  go  along 
your  way,"  said  Nore,  and  the  two  boys  went  down 
the  steps  together  and  along  the  square  back  of  the 
palace.  It  was  more  open  there  than  in  the  streets 
beyond,  and  the  sun  found  its  bright  way  all  along 
the  old  street.  People  were  walking  about,  doing 
early  marketing  and  a  few  anxious  shopkeepers  were 
opening  their  shops,  wishing  to  be  sure  that  no  idlers 
had  broken  in  during  the  holiday  night  to  steal  or 
to  do  any  mischief. 

"I  want  to  go  back  home.  I  hate  this  place,"  said 
the  lame  boy,  passionately,  as  they  walked  along  to- 
gether, turning  suddenly  down  a  long  dark  passage 
which  was  a  short  cut  to  the  very  oldest  part  of  all. 
The  boy  led  the  way.  He  seemed  familiar  with  all 
the  unexpected  turnings,  and  he  walked  quickly  for 
one  so  bent  and  lame. 

"Come,"  said  Nore,  "you're  tired  and  lonely, 
that's  all.  Stockholm  is  wonderful.  I  could  not  be- 
lieve that  any  city  could  be  more  wonderful.  I  wish 
I  could  show  you  how  jolly  it  really  is.  I've  wanted 
to  come  and  see  it,  ever  since  I  could  remember." 


144  Midsummer 

The  boy  looked  up  at  Nore.  "Yes,"  he  answered, 
"I'm  lonely.  My  master  has  been  full  of  work  the 
last  week.  He  told  me  to  go  yesterday  and  enjoy 
it  all,  but  what  could  I  do — a  poor  lad,  all  alone  in 
a  strange  place.  My  name's  Domski — what  is 
your's?" 

Nore  told  him,  and  as  their  walk  was  a  long  one, 
they  grew  quite  friendly  before  they  reached  the  end. 
Domski  told  Nore  that  his  master  was  the  best  in 
the  world,  that  he  painted  pictures  and  that  he 
thought  a  great  deal,  and  that  sometimes  he  was  very 
silent. 

"He  is  good  to  me  always,  but  some  times  he  for- 
gets me.  I  have  food  for  him  now,  a  fowl  and  some 
vegetables.  I  waited  until  the  shops  were  open  be- 
fore starting  home." 

Nore  listened  eagerly  when  Domski  told  of  his 
master  being  an  artist. 

"Do  you  watch  your  master  when  he  paints?"  he 
asked  the  lad,  who  shook  his  head. 

"No,  but  I  clean  his  palette  and  easel,  and  keep 
his  room  in  order,  and  see  that  he  has  food.  Often 
I  go  to  shops  to  buy  materials  for  his  pictures.  Last 
week  I  went  with  him  to  the  customs  when  he  sent 
two  to  Paris.  Oh,  my  master  is  known  in  the  great 
world,"  said  Domski,  with  pride  in  his  voice. 

"Have  you  been  here  long?"  asked  Nore. 

"No,  and  I  don't  know  if  we  shall  be  going  back 
soon  or  not. — Do  you  know,"  he  went  on,  speaking 


By  the  Palace  Steps  145 

in  a  low  voice  and  looking  about  him,  as  though  fear- 
ful that  some  passerby  should  hear,  "sometimes  I 
think  that  my  master  is  here  for  some  other  reason 
than  just  making  pictures."  Domski  nodded  his 
head  back  and  forth  in  a  knowing  sort  of  way,  but 
said  nothing  more.  Nore  looked  at  him  with  inter- 
est as  they  made  their  way  along  the  rough  cobbled 
street.  He  had  seemed  so  weak  and  stupid  there, 
when  the  boys  had  teased  him,  but  when  he  spoke 
of  his  master,  he  was  quite  different. 

"It's  because  it's  the  thing  that  interests  him," 
thought  Nore,  as  they  stopped  in  front  of  a  low 
doorway. 

"I'll  go  now,"  he  said  to  Domski,  "I  liked  hear- 
ing about  your  master.  I'd  rather  paint  pictures 
than  do  anything  in  the  world." 

"But  come  in,  come  in.  He  does  not  often  see 
strangers,  but  he  will  be  happy  to  meet  you  because 
of  your  kindness  to  me,"  exclaimed  the  Russian  lad, 
putting  his  hand  on  Nore's  shoulder  in  a  friendly 
way. 

"It  is  too  early,  I  fear  he  would  not  wish  it.  I'd 
best  be  going  back." 

"No,  no,  you  are  to  come  with  me.  I  wish  him 
to  thank  you  for  rescuing  the  fowl  and  the  carrots 
from  the  bad  boys,"  answered  Domski  firmly. 
They  both  laughed  and  Nore  rather  unwillingly  fol- 
lowed the  other  up  the  steep,  winding  stairs.  It  was 
surprising  how  fast  Domski  could  climb,  in  spite 


146  Midsummer 

of   his    lameness.     When  they  reached  the  top,  he 
found  the  door  unlocked. 

uMy  master  has  to  be  here  at  the  very  top  so  as 
to  have  light  for  his  pictures,"  he  explained  as  he 
opened  the  door,  and  they  went  into  the  narrow  hall. 
Domski  opened  a  door  at  the  end  and  stepped  in- 
side, holding  the  door  back  for  Nore,  who  stood  un- 
certainly on  the  threshold. 


CHAPTER  12 

Dejeuner 

THE  room  was  bright  with  sunshine  and  there  were 
pictures  everywhere.  A  child  was  asleep  on  a  couch 
in  one  corner,  and  facing  him,  with  his  back  to  the 
window,  stood  the  tall,  dark  man  who  had  spoken 
to  him  at  Hasslebacken.  For  a  moment  they  stood 
in  silence,  looking  at  each  other. 

"This  lad  saved  your  dinner  from  some  boys  who 
mocked  me,"  sir/'  explained  Domski,  putting  his 
bundles  on  the  table.  "He  wanted  to  see  your  pic- 
tures and  so  I  made  him  come  up  with  me." 

Still  the  man  did  not  speak.  He  stood  looking  at 
Nore. 

"Who  are  you?"  he  asked,  as  he  had  asked  that 
night  at  Hasslebacken.  There  was  the  same  odd, 
puzzled  sound  in  his  voice,  and  as  before,  Nore 
answered: 

"I'm  Nore  Carlson,  sir." 

"Yes,  yes,  of  course,  come  in,  lad.  I  seem  hon- 
ored with  visits  from  strange  children,  today,"  and 
he  nodded  towards  the  couch.  "There  is  one  who 
chanced  upon  me  at  quite  an  early  hour,  just  when 

147 


148  Midsummer 

the  sun  had  hidden  for  a  bit  of  time.  She  is  just 
waking  up." 

The  sound  of  voices  had  reached  Astrid  in  her 
dreams,  and  she  woke  suddenly,  sitting  bolt  upright 
at  once  and  rubbing  her  eyes.  Then  she  saw  Nore. 

"It's  Nore,  it's  Nore  from  home,"  she  cried  joy- 
ously, jumping  up,  and,  running  over  to  him,  she 
flung  herself  upon  him  in  her  delight  in  seeing  some 
one  familiar  to  the  little  world  she  knew. 

"It's  Nore  Carlson,  who  taught  my  brother  to  sail 
a  boat,"  she  cried,  turning  and  looking  at  Eugene, 
over  her  shoulder,  her  hair  flying  in  wild  disorder 
about  her  excited  little  face.  Nore  gazed  at  her  in 
amazement,  and  then  at  the  man  by  the  window. 

"It's  little  Astrid  Zander  from  up  the  fjords  where 
I  live,"  he  exclaimed.  Eugene  nodded,  coming  up 
to  them.  "I  found  her  on  my  doorstep,  at  dawn. 
I've  notified  her  people,  phoned  twice  before  I  could 
get  them.  It  seems  the  children  she  was  with  came 
back  from  the  park  in  a  great  state  of  despair,  and 
the  nurse  quite  lost  her  head;  the  maids  were  out  and 
as  they  all  went  off  searching  again  I  phoned  twice 
before  I  could  get  them.  A  young  girl  with  an 
American  voice  answered  the  last  time.  She  said 
she  thought  it  best  to  come  back  to  the  house  and 
wait  as  there  might  be  a  phone  call.  I  should  say 
she  had  rather  more  of  a  head  than  the  rest  of  them. 
They  are  sending  for  the  child  right  away." 

"They  will  indeed  be  grateful,  sir,"  Nore  said 


Dejeuner  149 

to  Eugene  and  then  looked  down  at  Astrid.  "You 
little  runaway,  what  would  Fru  Zander  say!"  he 
exclaimed. 

"Mama  lilla,  she  went  to  Tanta  Lisa,  she  told  the 
others  to  take  great  care  of  me.  They  should  have 
looked  after  me  better.  I  was  only  going  to  buy 
some  pancakes  for  myself  and  Audrey.  They  were 
all  shouting  after  the  singing,  and  that's  when  I  tried 
to  catch  up  with  the  pancake  man.  Oh,  nice  Nore, 
I'm  glad  you've  come  —  Tomte,  see  who's  here!" 
She  ran  over  to  the  couch  and  came  back  with  the 
doll  in  her  arms,  smiling  up  at  Nore. 

Eugene  looked  at  her  in  mock  reproach,  smiling 
his  slow,  whimsical  smile. 

"You  should  not  desert  the  new  friend  for  the 
old,"  he  said  to  her.  She  understood  and  turning 
she  caught  his  hand. 

"He's  my  friend,"  she  explained  proudly  to  Nore. 
"Wouldn't  Audrey  and  Valfried  like  to  have  a  real 
grown  up  friend  who  paints  pictures !" 

They  all  laughed  at  this,  even  Domski,  who  had 
left  the  room  a  moment  before,  and  who  had  come 
shuffling  back,  carrying  a  tray  filled  with  plates,  cups 
and  saucers. 

Eugene  lifted  Astrid  up  on  a  corner  of  the  table. 

"The  fairy  princess  had  a  very  early  dejeuner  with 
me.  I  think,  too,  that  your  friend  who  rescued  the 
fowl  is  hungry.  Domski,  suppose  we  have  a  meal 
of  some  sort  while  we  wait  for  the  ogre  nurse  to 


150  Midsummer 

arrive.    She  is  sure  to  be  here  soon.    The  young  girl 
was  to  tell  her  as  soon  as  she  came  in." 

Domski  gazed  at  Astrid  in  astonishment,  a  little 
girl  in  his  master's  room.  That  was  indeed  a  sur- 
prise.— A  little  lost  girl! 

"You  will  have  something  almost  at  once,  sir — 
the  fowl — no,  that  must  cook  for  a  long  time,  but 
an  omelette,  and  coffee  and  milk  for  the  little  lady. 
Oh,  that  will  be  with  you  before  you  can  think!" 
Domski  bustled  about  like  a  busy  house  wife,  dust- 
ing off  the  plates  with  a  clean  cloth,  lighting  a  flame 
under  a  chafing  dish  and  beginning  preparations^  for 
a  hurried  meal. 

"Just  lay  this  white  cloth,"  he  said  to  Nore,  as 
he  removed  the  green  one  with  the  remains  of  the 
sardines  and  cheese.  Nore  did  as  he  was  bid  and 
Eugene  watched  them  both,  still  with  the  whimsical 
smile  about  his  lips.  There  was  a  strange  look  in 
his  eyes,  a  look  of  excitement  he  could  hardly  have 
explained,  even  to  himself.  The  lad,  the  fair-haired 
boy,  the  castle  on  the  rocks, — but  no,  it  was  all  fan- 
tastic! 

"If  you  would  be  so  good  as  to  remove  yourself 
to  the  other  side  of  the  room,  sir,  I  fear  I  must  be 
very  busy  just  here  for  a  time."  Domski  spoke  re- 
spectfully but  firmly,  and  Eugene  laughed. 

"Quite  so,"  he  answered.  "Your  new  friend  and 
I  will  look  at  the  pictures,  he  seems  already  to  enjoy 
them.  That  is  well." 


Dejeuner  151 

Nore  was  standing  in  front  of  one  of  the  un- 
framed  etchings,  hung  at  the  left  of  the  door. 
Eugene,  still  holding  Astrid' s  hand,  came  and  stood 
by  him. 

"You  care  for  pictures?"  he  asked  Nore. 

Domski  looked  back  over  his  shoulder  as  he  was 
setting  the  table. 

"He  told  me  he  liked  pictures  the  best  of  any- 
thing; that  is  why  I  made  him  come  up  here  with 
me,"  he  said. 

Nore  turned  a  glowing  face  to  Eugene.  "Oh,  sir," 
was  all  he  managed  to  say. 

"You  would  make  them  yourself  if  you  could?" 
queried  Eugene,  watching  him  as  he  spoke. 

Nore  laughed.  It  was  a  joyous  laugh,  a  child's 
laugh.  The  look  of  care  seemed  to  have  fallen 
away  from  him. 

"I  would  make  them  sir,  yes,  if  a  dream  came 
true.  I  want  to  go  and  see  that  funny  boy."  Astrid 

"Dreams  do  come  true,  don't  they,  little  com- 
rade?" asked  Eugene,  turning  to  Astrid  who  still 
held  his  hand. 

"They  do  in  fairy  books.  I  dreamed  I  had  a  baby 
wild  cat  all  my  own.  I  hope  that  dream  will  come 
true.  I  want  to  go  and  see  that  funny  boy,"  Astrid 
dropped  Eugene's  hand  and  ran  over  to  the  table. 
She  began  to  follow  Domski  about  as  he  set  the 
tabl  v  She  watched  him  as  though  fascinated,  he  was 
so  lame  and  yet  he  jumped  about  so  quickly.  He  was 


152  Midsummer 

so  dark  and  eager  and  he  spoke  such  a  funny  lan- 
guage in  such  an  excited  way. 

"Could  you  say,  lad,  which  picture  it  is  that  you 
most  care  for?"  asked  Eugene  of  Nore,  as  they 
walked  slowly  about  the  room. 

"The  ship,  I  think,  the  tall  ship  in  the  twilight 
sea."  Then  he  walked  back  a  little  way  and  stood  be- 
fore a  small  water  color. 

"This  too,"  he  said,  looking  at  Eugene,  throwing 
back  his  head  to  toss  the  bright  locks  back  from  his 
forehead  in  a  way  he  had  of  doing.  Eugene  gave 
an  exclamation  under  his  breath.  Then  he  came  for- 
ward and  stood  beside  Nore. 

The  picture  was  that  of  an  old  garden.  One  felt 
at  a  glance  that  it  was  old  and  that  it  was  quite  a 
little  garden.  There  was  an  old  sun  dial  in  the  cen- 
tre, and  the  flowers  that  grew  along  the  little  wind- 
ing, grey  garden  path  were  gay,  startling  in  color, 
tulips  and  poppies  and  peonies.  Sunshine  seemed  to 
be  everywhere.  On  a  grey  bench  there  was  a  scarlet 
shawl,  so  cleverly  done  that  one  could  almost  feel 
its  soft,  silk  folds.  One  felt,  too,  that  its  wearer  had 
but  flung  it  carelessly  down,  a  moment  before,  and 
would  be  running  back  for  it  in  a  little  while. 

Eugene's  face  worked  curiously  for  a  moment. 

"That  was  my  garden.  I  lived  there  once,"  he 
said. 

"The  meal,  it  is  ready,  master,"  called  Domski. 

At  the  same  moment  there  was  a  bang  on  the  door. 


Dejeuner  153 

and  before  they  could  speak,  it  was  burst  open  and 
Lillemore  bounced  in.  She  was  purple  and  breath- 
less, and  her  breath  came  in  short  sobs.  Astrid  ran 
towards  her,  and  she  caught  her  to  her  broad  breast. 
Two  boys,  who  proved  to  be  Bjorn  and  Sven,  were 
just  behind  her  and  they  gazed  in  utter  atonishment 
at  Nore,  at  the  odd  Russian  boy  and  at  Eugene,  him- 
self. 

"I'm  Astrid's  brother.  Thank  you  for  us  all,  sir, 
for  looking  after  her,"  said  Bjorn,  as  soon  as  he 
could  find  his  voice. 

In  a  few  moments  it  seemed  as  though  they  had 
all  known  each  other  always.  Lillemore  was  pro- 
fuse in  her  thanks  but  so  excited  was  she,  that  she 
spoke  mostly  in  the  patois  of  her  native  Skona,  and 
Eugene  could  not  understand  her.  With  the  chil- 
dren, he  spoke  English. 

They  made  a  merry  meal  all  together,  for  Eugene 
asked  them  all  to  stay.  They  were  waited  on  by 
Lillemore  and  Domski,  one  so  pale  and  small,  the 
other  so  big  and  red.  The  boys  were  very  hungry, 
and  Lillemore  occasionally  whispered  a  reproving 
word  to  Bjorn.  "You  should  not  eat  as  though  you 
had  nothing  at  home.  What  will  the  gentleman  think 
of  you?"  she  hissed. 

"Can't  help  it,  Lillemore.  Hunting  for  lost  sisters 
is  hungry  work." 

Eugene  watched  them  with  a  smile.  His  work 
was  being  sadly  interrupted  but  there  was  something 


154  Midsummer 

here  more  important.  The  excited,  puzzled  look 
was  there  in  his  eyes,  as  it  had  been  at  Hassleback- 
en.  He  listened  carefully  to  all  that  the  children 
said. 

It  was  towards  the  middle  of  the  meal  that  Sven 
turned  his  honest,  blunt,  American  face  towards 
Eugene. 

"My  sister  certainly  would  like  to  thank  you  for 
finding  Astrid,  sir.  She  says  it  was  her  fault,  for 
she  promised  Fru  Zander  to  look  after  the  child. 
She  was  having  such  a  good  time  she  forgot  her  for 
a  second — my!  but  it's  fun  here.  We  come  from 
America.  I  guess  you  know  that  by  my  voice.  We're 
visiting  my  grandfather." 

Astrid's  words  came  back  to  Eugene.  "They've 
come  to  stay  with  a  cross  grandfather,  in  a  castle  on 
the  rocks."  He  leaned  forward. 

"What  is  your  grandfather's  name,  please?"  he 
asked. 

"Essen,  he  is  the  Count  Essen,"  answered  Sven, 
spreading  some  goat's  cheese  on  a  piece  of  coffee 
bread. 

There  was  a  moment's  silence  in  the  room.  It 
was  Bjorn  who  broke  it,  rising  and  speaking  a  little 
clumsily.  "Well,  it's  not  very  polite  to  have  a  meal 
and  go  right  along,  but  we've  only  two  more  days 
to  run  around  in."  He  held  out  his  hand. 

"If  we  can  do  anything  for  you,  sir,  we  would  be 
glad  to.  My  father  will  write  you  a  letter  and  I 


Dejeuner  155 

thank  you  again.  Come,  boys,  let's  go.  Come,  As- 
trid  and  Lillemore." 

Eugene  bade  them  good-bye  at  the  outer  door. 
Astrid  put  her  plump  arms  around  his  neck  and 
kissed  him. 

uYou  come  and  see  us  at  Sunhem,  only  do  bring 
Domski  too,  he's  so  funny.  Thank  you  for  finding 
me.  You  will  come  and  see  me,  won't  you?  Kiss 
Tomte  good-bye."  She  held  the  doll  up  to  Eugene, 
and  then  she  pretended  to  have  the  Tomte  speak, 
in  a  high  squeaking  voice. 

uThank  you  for  rescuing  us,  fairy  prince,"  she  had 
him  say. 

They  all  laughed  at  this,  standing  in  the  door- 
way. 

"Thank  you,  I  shall  come  soon,"  answered  Eug- 
ene. He  glanced  at  Bjorn  as  he  spoke. 

"Do  come,  sir,"  Bjorn  said  heartily. 

Eugene  looked  at  Nore. 

"You  live  across  the  bay  from  the  castle  on  the 
rocks?  You  are  near  the  others?" 

Nore  nodded,  smiling  his  rare  smile. 

"Yes,  and  we  should  be  glad  to  see  you  in  our 
cottage,  my  mother  and  I.  The  pictures,  thank  you 
for  letting  me  see  the  pictures,  sir." 

"I  will  see  you  all  again."  Eugene  waved  his  hand 
at  them  as  they  started  down  the  street.  There  was 
a  droski  stand,  not  far  away,  and  they  had  wanted 
first  a  little  walk. 


156  Midsummer 

When  Eugene  came  back  to  his  room,  Domski 
greeted  him  with  shining  eyes. 

"They  are  good,  those  boys.  They  spoke  in  a 
good  way  to  me.  They  said,  'If  you  come  down 
the  skerries,  you  can  sail  with  us.7  Oh,  we  shall  be 
lonely,  master.  It  is  good  to  have  guests — but  such 
appetites.  It  was  a  fairy  omelette,  that  it  lasted  as 
it  did!" 

"But  the  ogre  nurse  ate  nothing.  You  should  be 
thankful  for  that,  Domski,"  said  Eugene. 

"One  moment,  sir,  I  will  clear  away  and  then  you 
will  have  room  for  your  work — I  will  fetch  the 
easel." 

"No,  Domski,  I  am  going  to  think  for  awhile. 
There  are  things  to  puzzle  about,  there  are  things 
to  dream  about,  even  are  there  things  to  hope  for — 
vague  perhaps — who  knows?  Soon  I  shall  write  a 
letter  to  a  village  called  Boo,  I  shall  inquire  for  lodg- 
ings and  I  daresay  a  week  from  today  we  shall  be 
there.  You  may  have  your  sailing  party  after  all," 
answered  Eugene. 

"Very  good,  sir,"  answered  Domski. 


CHAPTER  13 
On  the  Balcony 

"THE  real  fun  was  over  the  day  after  midsummer. 
I'm  glad  we're  on  our  way  back  for  I  want  to,  Oh, 
sail  and  see  about  all  sorts  of  things.  I  want  Hjal- 
mar  to  help  me  about  this  sail-boat  business.  I  want 
the  boat  right  off,  father  said  to  ask  Hjalmar  about 


it." 


"How  can  you  say  the  real  fun  was  over  mid- 
summer day,  when  we  had  such  a  good  time  at  the 
indoor  circus,  and  I  bought  a  Swedish  costume  and 
all,  the  next  day.  And  Sven,  Oh,  can't  you  see — it's 
all  so  funny,  the  dark  stranger  finding  Astrid,  and 
then  Nore's  meeting  the  servant  boy,  Domski.  Life 
is  so  thrilling,  I  wonder  what  will  happen  next." 
Audrey  gave  a  sigh  of  sheer  joy  as  she  spoke. 

"Supper,  I  hope.  Look,  there's  the  castle.  Here 
we  are.  Hullo,  Hjalmar!  There's  Hjalmar,  see! 
Funny  old  bird,  isn't  he?"  Sven  waved,  and  so  did 
Audrey  and  the  others.  Audrey  and  Ingeborg  hug- 
ged each  other,  and  Audrey  put  something  into  Inge- 
borg's  hand.  It  was  a  little  white  crepe  handker- 
chief. "I  bought  it  at  the  Nordiska  Companiet.  Keep 

157 


158  Midsummer 

it,  just  for  fun,  to  remember  our  new  friendship,  and 
Oh,  Ingeborg,  don't  tell,  but  I'm  going  to  try  to  get 
grandfather  to  let  us  give  a  party  at  the  castle." 

"Your  grandfather,"  gasped  Ingeborg.  She  had 
not  time  to  say  any  more  for  the  boat  had  stopped 
at  the  landing  and  the  boys  were  calling  to  Audrey 
t  •  hurry. 

They  waved  to  the  boat  in  true  Swedish  fashion 
until  it  was  out  of  sight.  Then  Audrey  turned  im- 
pulsively and  put  her  arms  around  Valfried,  giving 
her  a  hug. 

"It's  been  just  the  happiest  time.  Oh  Val,  I've 
adored  every  minute,"  she  said.  "I've  made  a  new 
friend  in  Ingeborg  and  we  three  are  always  going 
to  be  friends  together,  all  our  lives." 

"Yes  we  are,"  answered  Valfried.  "I'm  going  to 
be  nicer,  too.  Oh,  Audrey — the  night  that  Astrid 
was  lost,  I've  never  told  any  one,  but  I  did  pray.  I 
told  God  I'd  never  be  bored  again  by  having  Astrid 
around  all  the  time."  They  were  climbing  the  rocks 
and  they  both  stood  still  for  a  moment  and  laughed 
at  Valfried's  funny  prayer. 

"You  will  be  bored  by  her  dozens  of  times,  when 
we  want  to  do  things  without  her,  but  any  way  we 
realize  how  precious  she  is  now,"  answered  Audrey. 
"There's  Tante  .Greta.  Good-bye,  I'll  see  you  this 
evening."  Audrey  ran  up  the  rest  of  the  rocks  to- 
wards the  castle  and  Valfried  turned  off  towards 
Sunhem.  Astrid,  Lillemore  and  the  maids  had  gone 


On  the  Balcony  159 

on  ahead  and  the  boys  had  immediately  gone  off  for 
a  sail-boat  talk  with  Hjalmar. 

Tante  Greta  was  certainly  glad  to  see  them,  and 
so  was  their  grandfather.  "He  won't  say  so,  noth- 
ing could  make  him,  but  he  is  glad,  I  can  feel  that 
he  is,"  Audrey  said  to  Sven  that  evening.  "I'm  go- 
ing to  wait  a  day  or  two,  and  then  I'm  going  to  ask 
him  about  the  party." 

It  was  almost  a  week  before  she  did  ask  him,  but 
one  glorious  evening,  after  she,  Valfried,  and  the 
boys  had  come  in  from  a  sail,  she  found  her  grand- 
father alone  in  the  library,  and  went  up  to  him.  The 
old  man  was  half  asleep,  and  he  started  as  she  spoke 
to  him. 

"Grandfather!" 

"Who  spoke,  who's  that?"  he  asked,  starting  up. 

"You  know,  grandfather.  It's  Audrey.  See  me. 
See  what  a  fine  granddaughter  you  have."  She  came 
around  in  front  of  him  and  smiled  down  at  him. 

"Come  out  on  the  balcony,  please,  grandfather,  I 
want  to  ask  you  a  favor."  She  put  her  hand,  coax- 
ingly,  on  the  old  man's  arm  and  helped  him  to  stand 
up.  Then,  very  carefully,  she  guided  his  steps  across 
the  long,  old  library,  gilded  to  dancing  color  in  the 
sunset,  across  to  the  wide  open  French  window,  to 
the  wide  stone  balcony  that  overhung  the  rocks  from 
which  one  could  look  down  at  the  bay  below. 

Audrey  brought  a  wool  rug  and  put  it  over  her 
grandfather's  knees,  tucking  it  securely  about  him. 


1 60  Midsummer 

"You  do  love  to  be  fussed  over,  don't  you,  grand- 
father?" She  brought  a  little  stool  and  sat  down 
upon  it  beside  the  old  man. 

"Grandfather,"  she  said  at  once,  "don't  you  think 
we  ought  to  have  some  fun?" 

"Fun?"  queried  the  old  man,  drawing  the  rug 
more  closely  about  him.  "Fun,  who  thinks  of  fun? 
It's  a  long  day  since  I've  heard  the  word,  a  long 
day!"  He  sighed  heavily.  Audrey  patted  his  knee. 

"Oh,  come,  grandfather,  it's  almost  my  favorite 
word,  so  like  it  for  my  sake.  Isn't  it  fine  that  we  are 
such  good  friends,  you  and  I?  It  would  have  been 
a  pity  if  we  hadn't  been  congenial.  You  think  I'm 
the  best  reader  aloud  that  ever  was,  and  I've  made 
you  laugh  five  times." 

Her  grandfather  smiled.  "You  have  spirit.  You 
are  like  your  American  father,  I  daresay,  and  yet 
sometimes  I  think  I  hear  Sigried's  voice  when  I  hear 
you  speak."  He  sighed  as  he  spoke,  and  for  a  brief 
instant  his  hand  touched  her  dark  hair. 

"I  love  you  when  you  talk  that  way,  grandfather, 
when  you  say  you  think  you  hear  Sigried's  voice  when 
I  speak.  It's  just  like  a  story.  It  makes  me  have 
a  sort  of  thrill  and  I've  had  so  many  of  them  lately. 
Yes,  I'm  fond  of  you,  grandfather,  even  though  you 
are  so  odd  and  bad  tempered.  Now,  don't  be  huffy, 
you  know  you  are." 

"lam,  ami?" 

"Yes,  just  when  I  begin  to  like  you,  you  snap  up 


On  the  Balcony  161 

poor  Tante  Greta,  who  only  lives  to  please  you. 
Then  I  say  to  myself:  'What  a  pity,  grandfather 
thinks  always  of  himself.  What  a  dear  old  man  he 
would  be  if  he'd  think  of  something  besides  his 
troubles/  '  Audrey  paused,  she  was  rather  fright- 
ened at  what  she  had  said.  She  of  all  people  to.be 
preaching  to  her  grandfather. 

"Well,  you  are  forward  enough,"  exclaimed  the 
old  man,  but  to  Audrey's  surprise  he  did  not  seem 
very  much  put  out. 

"You  see,  grandfather,  the  Zanders  have  such  a 
very  lovely  grandfather  and  are  always  holding  him 
up  as  being  so  much  nicer  than  you.  Of  course  they 
don't  really  say  so,  but  that's  what  they  think!" 

"And  you  agree  with  them,  I  suppose?"  asked  the 
old  man,  dryly. 

"Not  when  you're  nice.  I  think  you  can  be  so 
jolly.  Sven  would  too,  if  he  knew  you  better.  1 
want  to  have  a  happy  house  like  Sunhem.  Come, 
let's  plan  to  have  the  j oiliest  kind  of  time  for  the 
rest  of  the  summer." 

Her  grandfather  gave  a  low  chuckle. 

"You've  come  to  the  wrong  place.  This  is  not 
a  jolly  house.  It  can  never  be.  It  has  known  only 
sorrow  and  disappointment;  only  shadows  have  en- 
tered its  door." 

Audrey  stood  up,  went  over  and  sat  on  the  balcony 
railing  facing  the  old  man. 

"You  know  I'm  not  a  sorrow  and  disappointment, 


1 62  Midsummer 

grandfather,  and  I've  entered  its  doors.  I  don't 
think  it's  really  so  bad  here.  It's  old  and  dingy 
but—" 

"It  has  stood  for  much  that  is  splendid  in  its  day," 
broke  in  the  old  man,  a  little  haughtily. 

"Yes,  but  now  it  stands  for  just  being  dull — yes, 
DULL,  dull — now  I  want  to  do  something.  I  want, 
Oh,  how  very  much  you  cannot  know,  I  want  to 
give  a  party!" 

The  old  man  looked  up  at  the  vivid,  smiling,  be- 
seeching face  of  his  granddaughter. 

"A  party  here,"  he  repeated.  "My  child,  there 
has  been  no  such  thing  here  since  the  old  days,  when 
-the,"  he  hesitated.  "No,  no,"  he  said,  "I  could 
not  stand  the  sound  of  voices  and  laughter." 

"You  are  not  very  hospitable,  grandfather,"  said 
Audrey,  disappointment  sounding  in  her  voice. 
"Sven  and  I  came  all  the  way  from  America  to  see 
you.  It  was  rough  and  for  three  whole  days  we 
lived  on  celery  and  roquefort  cheese  and  hard  crack- 
ers. It's  a  long  way  to  come  and  you've  not  done 
one  single  thing  to  entertain  us!" 

The  old  man  looked  at  Audrey  from  under  his 
bushy  brows. 

"So  you  are  not  having  a  good  time  here?"  he 
asked. 

"Of  course  we  are,  grandfather,  you  know  that, 
but  it's  because  the  Zanders  and  others  are  so  good 
to  us.  They're  sorry  for  us.  It's  the  summer  peo- 


On  the  Balcony  163 

pie  from  the  city  who  are  making  us  have  a  happy 
summer,"  answered  Audrey,  speaking  in  her  usual 
impulsive  way.  There  was  nothing,  had  she  but 
known  it,  that  could  have  had  more  effect  with  the 
old  man.  It  touched  his  pride,  that  fierce  pride  that 
had  always  helped  to  shadow  the  sun  for  him.  He 
looked  at  his  granddaughter,  at  her  earnest  speaking 
face,  her  soft  scarlet  crepe  frock,  her  hair,  soft  and 
dark,  blowing  about  her  face,  then  he  spoke  slowly : 

"After  all,  why  not?  Your  life  is  to  be  lived. 
What  matter  now  that  mine  is  so  nearly  done  ?  Have 
your  party,  if  so  it  pleases  you." 

The  color  rushed  to  Audrey's  face,  she  leaned  for- 
ward, kissing  the  old  man. 

"It's  splendid!  Oh  I  knew  you  would  say  yes,  and 
if  I  wasn't  sure  that  it  wouldn't  be  the  best  thing  in 
the  world  for  you  I  wouldn't  have  insisted." 

There  were  steps  on  the  rocks  below.  Audrey 
leaned  over  the  side  of  the  balcony  and  waved  to 
Hjalmar  who  was  climbing  towards  them. 

"You're  invited  to  a  party,  Hjalmar,"  she  called 
out  joyously. 

"There,  there,"  remonstrated  her  grandfather  a 
little  fretfully. 

"There  is  no  need  of  shouting  so  that  people  sail- 
ing by  can  hear  you!"  He  listened  for  Hjalmar's 
footsteps  and  when  they  paused  under  the  balcony, 
he  spoke. 

"I'l  have  a  word  with  you,  Hjalmar." 


164  Midsummer 

"Yes,  sir." 

Hjalmar  made  his  slow  way  around  the  corner 
of  the  balcony  and  up  the  great  stone  steps.  Audrey 
ran  to  meet  him. 

"We're  going  to  have  a  party  and  you're  to  be 
the  guest  of  honor,  Hjalmar."  She  took  hold  of  his 
hands  and  danced  him  around  and  around.  He  was 
so  bewildered  that  he  could  only  blink  his  surprise. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad,  I  feel  at  home  now.  I'm  going 
to  give  a  party.  I'm  at  grandfather's  and  I'm  going 
to  give  a  party!"  She  danced  all  the  way  around 
the  great  balcony  and  back,  almost  before  Hjalmar 
reached  his  master's  side. 

"She  does  go,  doesn't  she,  sir.  She's  full  of  the 
sun  and  wind,  is  the  young  Froken!"  exclaimed 
Hjalmar. 

The  old  count  assented  gruffly.  "I've  had  enough 
for  tonight.  I'll  go  inside."  Somewhere  off  in  the 
distance  a  band  was  playing  the  Finnish  march. 

"That's  the  last  Gustafsburg  boat,  Froken, 
they've  had  an  excursion,"  Hjalmar  said  to  Audrey, 
as  she  paused  breathless  at  her  grandfather's  side. 

"Oh,  listen,  it's  the  Finnish  march.  You  know  I 
told  you  we  heard  the  King's  band  play  at  Hassle- 
backen.  They  gave  us  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  and 
we  stood  up.  Well,  afterwards,  they  played  this 
— listen,  let's  be  quiet  for  a  minute  and  hear  it," 
said  Audrey. 

"I'll  be  glad  to,"  answered  her  grandfather  grim- 


On  the  Balcony  165 

ly.  Faintly  the  strains  of  the  glorious  march  sound- 
ed through  the  sweet  night  air.  The  three  on  the 
balcony  listened  until  it  had  quite  died  away. 

"It  was  the  funniest  thing,  grandfather,  I  remem- 
ber it  was  just  after  they  played  this  march  that  the 
stranger  came  and  asked  Nore  who  he  was !" 

"Who  is  Nore?  What  are  you  talking  about?" 
asked  the  old  man  fretfully.  "You  chatter  so  fast 
one  cannot  understand  you." 

"Why  you  know  who  Nore  is,  grandfather.  He's 
a  fisher  boy,  Nore  Carlson.  We  all  know  him  and 
we  like  him  so  much." 

"Yes,  yes,  I  daresay,  the  Carlsons  are  good  peo- 
ple. Knut  Carlson  was  an  able  seaman.  You  told 
me  that  his  family  were  not  in  want,  I  think.  Hjal- 
mar,  it  seems  to  me  Fve  seen  one  of  the  children 
somewhere." 

"You  never  go  anywhere,  grandfather,  how  could 
you?" 

"The  lad  Nore  brought  me  a  note  once,  I  remem- 
ber now.  I  was  half  asleep  and  the  room  was  dark, 
but,  yes,  I  remember  he  said  he  was  Nore  Carlson,  I 
remember  because  I  liked  his  father.  We  don't  have 
seamen  such  as  he  was,  nowadays,  eh,  Hjalmar?" 

"Knut  Carlson  was  a  good  man,  sir,"  answered 
Hjalmar.  He  shifted  his  big  feet  and  stood  waiting, 
cap  in  hand. 

"It  was  so  funny  though,  grandfather.  I  mean 
don't  you  think  it  was  odd  to  have  a  stranger  come 


1 66  Midsummer 

up  to  Nore  and  ask  him  in  such  an  earnest,  mysteri- 
ous way  what  his  name  was.  It  was  the  very  same 
man  who  found  little  Astrid." 

"Well,  I  daresay,  but  for  heaven's  sake,  do  not 
talk  any  more.  Come,  Hjalmar,  help  me  to  go  in- 
side. In  my  day  children  didn't  talk  so  much."  In 
spite  of  his  fretful  words  he  put  his  hand  kindly  on 
Audrey's  shoulder. 

"Have  your  party,  enjoy  yourself,  I  am  glad  for 
this  last  experience.  A  new  granddaughter  who  tries 
to  wake  up  her  cross  old  grandfather." 

"You  are  blessed,  thank  you  just  ever  so  much." 
Audrey  turned  towards  her  grandfather,  the  eager 
words  of  thanks  upon  her  lips.  They  died  there  and 
she  stood  looking  at  Hjalmar  who  was  staring  at 
her.  Was  it  fear  that  she  saw  in  his  eyes?  At  any 
rate  he  looked  strange  enough.  He  helped  his  mas- 
ter into  the  house.  Then  as  Audrey  was  still  stand- 
ing there,  on  the  balcony,  he  came  and  stood  for  a 
moment  in  the  French  window. 

"The  strange  man,  he  was  dark  you  say?  Did  he 
look  like — a  Russian?" 

"He  is  a  Russian,  he  said  so.  Nore  saw  him  after- 
wards. He  went  to  his  studio  and  found  little  Astrid 
there  the  night  she  was  lost,  midsummer  night." 

Hjalmar  came  a  step  nearer.  "If  he's  a  Russian 
don't  talk  about  him  before  the  master.  He  was 
too  tired  to  notice  much,  tonight,  but  he  don't  like 
Russians!" 


On  the  Balcony  167 

"All  right,  Hjalmar — look,  there  are  the  boys. 
Hullo — Sven — Bjorn."  She  ran  down  the  steps, 
and  on  down  the  rocks,  calling  to  the  boys,  who  were 
walking  along  the  beach. 

Hjalmar  stood  for  a  moment  there  on  the  balcony 
after  Audrey  had  left  him.  Then  he  went  inside. 
He  drew  down  the  shades,  lighted  a  black  and  gik 
French  reading  lamp  on  a  table  near  the  old  count's 
chair.  Then  he  went  over  and  put  some  fresh 
logs  on  the  open  fire.  He  came  back  and  stood 
before  his  master's  chair.  "You  are  warm  enough, 
sir?" 

"Yes,  warm  and  not  too  tired.  She's  as  bright 
as  a  bird,  she's  real  sunshine  in  a  place  that  has 
known  darkness  for  so  long." 

"I've  meant  to  do  my  best,  sir,"  said  Hjalmar. 
The  old  count  looked  up  at  him  in  surprise.  "Who 
said  you  had  not?  Yes,  you've  stood  by  me  through 
rough  times.  You've  been  staunch  enough." 

Hjalmar  twisted  his  hands  together. 

"We're  going  to  have  a  party,  Sven.  I'll  tell  you 
about  it  later,"  Audrey  called,  as  she  ran  on  down 
toward  the  shore.  She  jumped  into  her  rowboat, 
caught  up  the  oars  and  started  across  the  bay.  She 
was  going  to  ask  the  Carlson  children  to  her  party. 
Her  quick  mind  had  worked  it  out.  She  had  been 
given  permission  by  the  lord  of  the  castle  to  have 
her  party.  No  one  could  gainsay  it.  Tante  Greta 
would  know  in  the  morning  when  her  headache  was 


1 68  Midsummer 

better.     She    would    have  the  party  early  the  next 
week.    Nore  and  the  others  should  be  invited ! 

"I'll  invite  them  tonight  and  tell  Xante  Greta  after- 
wards. I  suppose  it  will  seem  very  odd  to  her,  but 
it's  my  party!" 

The  clear,  cold  wind  blew  about  her.  ult's  the 
sort  of  air  that  almost  speaks.  It's  a  happy  air," 
she  thought.  How  she  loved  rowing  across  the  bay, 
how  interesting  they  all  were  to  her,  Thure  and 
Marta,  and,  above  all,  Nore  and  his  mother.  "Fru 
Carlson  has  sad  eyes.  There  is  a  look  in  her  eyes 
always.  It  is  like  the  look  in  Hjalmar's  tonight,  but 
her  face  is  so  fine  and  there  is  so  much  love  in  it," 
thought  Audrey,  as  she  splashed  the  water  with  her 
oars  and  breathed  in  the  wonderful  air. 

Little  Thure  was  on  the  beach,  and  when  she  saw 
Audrey  coming  in  the  boat,  she  ran  down  to  the 
water's  edge  to  wait  for  her.  Audrey  had  never 
been  there  since  the  Name's  Day  night,  but  they  had 
talked  of  her  so  much,  the  Carlson  children,  and 
Thure  danced  up  and  down  with  excitement  when 
Audrey  waved  to  her.  She  called  back  over  her 
shoulder  to  someone  inside  the  cottage : 

"It  is  Froken  Audrey  from  the  castle,  mother, 
Marta,  Karl." 

Audrey  jumped  out  of  her  boat  and  by  the  time 
she  had  shoved  it  half  way  up  on  the  sand,  Karl  was 
there  to  help  her,  his  fair,  happy,  browned  face 
beaming  upon  her. 


On  the  Balcony  169 

"Mother's  here.  She  made  us  some  platter  for 
supper.  She's  saved  the  batter  to  bake  some  fresh 
ones  for  Nore  when  he  comes  in  late,"  he  told  Aud- 
rey. Thure  took  her  hand  and  Marta  waved  from 
the  low  doorway.  A  few  moments  later,  and  they 
were  all  chatting  together,  the  three  girls  and  Karl. 
Fru  Carlson  was  busy  in  the  back  room,  but  after 
a  time  she  too  came  out. 

''Bring  a  chair  for  the  Froken,  you  forget  your 
manners,"  she  admonished  Karl.  "They  are  so 
pleased  that  you  have  come,  Froken,  they  can  think 
of  nothing  else."  She  smiled  kindly  at  Audrey  and 
sat  down  on  a  chair  near  the  door,  facing  the  bril- 
liance of  the  sea,  yet  herself  in  the  shadow.  Her 
face  was  drawn  and  tired.  Her  rough  work-worn 
hands  lay  a  little  listlessly  in  her  lap,  there  was  a 
worried  look  in  her  eyes  but  a  deep  tenderness  too. 

"I've  come  to  ask  the  children  to  a  party.  Sven 
and  I  are  giving  a  party  at  the  castle  next  week,  and 
we  want  Marta  and  Thure  and  Nore  and  Karl  to 
come  to  it." 

A  party  at  the  castle!  Enchanting,  alluring,  im- 
possible !  They  looked  at  her,  all  of  them,  even  the 
mother,  in  amazement.  Little  Thure  came  and 
pulled  at  her  mother's  skirt,  leaning  over  so  as  to 
look  up  into  her  eyes.  "Mother,  mother,  a  party 
at  the  castle."  She  looked  back  at  Audrey  over  her 
shoulder.  "Me  too?"  she  asked. 

"You  most  of  all,"  laughed  Audrey. 


170  Midsummer 

Thure  ran  into  the  other  room  and  came  back  with 
her  doll,  Sophie,  in  her  arms.  "We're  going  to  a 
party  at  the  castle,"  she  crooned  to  her  doll.  "A 
party,  a  party  at  the  castle!" 

Karl  shifted  his  weight  from  one  bare  foot  to  an- 
other and  looked  at  his  mother.  Why  did  she  not 
speak?  Marta  laughed  joyously,  clasping  her  brown 
hands  about  her  blue  gingham  knees.  "Oh,  Froken," 
she  gasped,  laughing  out  merrily  in  her  free  girlish 
way.  "You  are  so  good  to  think  to  give  us  pleasure, 
isn't  she,  mother?" 

Fru  Carlson's  face  seemed  shadowed  in  the  dusk 
of  the  low-ceilinged  room.  She  was  silent  a  few 
minutes  and  then,  like  the  children,  she  repeated 
Audrey's  words:  "A  party  at  the  castle!"  She 
turned  and  looked  at  Audrey,  and  sudden  tears 
sprang  to  her  eyes.  "Many  things  seem  to  happen. 
Strangers  are  interested  in  my  children.  Yes,  they 
may  come,  and  I  thank  you  for  your  kindness  to 
them  and  to  Nore,  when  he  was  in  Stockholm." 
When  she  said  the  name  Nore,  her  voice  softened 
and  the  tenderness  deepened  in  her  eyes.  She  caught 
some  folds  of  her  apron  together  nervously.  Then 
she  stood  up  and  shaded  her  eyes  from  the  startling 
light  outside. 

"I  am  sorry  that  Nore  does  not  come.  He  could 
see  you  across." 

"I  must  fly  right  away,  or  they  will  worry  at  the 
castle.  We've  not  set  the  evening  yet  for  the  party, 


On  the  Balcony  171 

but  I'll  let  you  all  know,  and  I'm  so  glad  you  can 


come." 


They  waved  to  her  until  she  was  half  way  across 
the  bay.  Every  time  she  looked  back,  one  of  them 
was  waving.  How  small  they  looked,  the  little  hut- 
like  cottage  and  the  black  figures  in  front  of  it. 

uFru  Carlson  said  that  strangers  were  interested 
ir.  her  children.  I  wonder  if  she  meant  the  dark  man 
at  Hasslebacken,  who  found  Astrid,"  thought  Aud- 
rey as  she  drew  down  her  shade  to  shut  out  the  glar- 
ing light  that  night.  She  was  tired  and  happy  and 
excited.  There  was  to  be  the  party,  and  life  was 
full  of  interests  and  surprises! 


CHAPTER  14 
Boo 

"HuRRY,  I've  something  to  tell  you,  I  can't  wait 
long.  Nils  is  here  and  we  three  are  going  krefter  fish- 
ing." Sven  shouted  up  to  Audrey  who  was  leaning 
out  of  her  window  to  hear  him,  far  below  her. 

"Is  it  anything  I'll  care  about  hearing?  I'm  plan- 
ning games  for  the  party.  Val  and  I  are  having  fun 
over  it.  Do  you  want  to  have  any  say  about  the 
supper,  you  and  Bjorn?" 

"No,  but  have  a  good  one.  Tell  Tante  Greta  I'll 
not  be  back  until  late,  we're  going  to  cook  the  krefter 
on  the  beach,"  Sven  called  up,  in  answer. 

"If  you  catch  any,"  laughed  Valfried  coming  up 
beside  Audrey  and  leaning  out  also.  "What  do  you 
want  to  tell  us,  can't  you  shout  it  up  to  us?  We  are 
too  busy  to  come  down." 

Sven  shook  his  head  teasingly  and  seeing  Bjorn 
in  the  distance,  ran  on  down  the  beach.  He  was  so 
far  below  them,  he  seemed  only  a  black  speck  in  the 
distance  as  he  ran  farther  and  farther  away. 

"Perhaps  it  was  something  interesting.  I  believe 
it  was.  Why  didn't  I  run  down  and  hear  it?"  said 
Audrey,  looking  after  Sven. 

172 


Boo  173 

"Come,  we  must  finish  the  list  of  the  things  you 
are  to  buy  in  Boo,  do  you  really  think  you  will  go 
there  this  afternoon?"  asked  Valfried,  as  they  sat 
down  at  the  table  which  they  had  drawn  close  to  the 
window. 

"Of  course  I'll  go,  it's  too  bad  you  can't  come  too, 
but  it  will  be  really  fun  to  go  alone — Boo,  Oh,  I  can't 
believe  that  there  is  any  real  village  named  Boo." 
Audrey  laughed  as  she  spoke  and  hugged  Valfried 
for  sheer  happiness.  She  had  thought  constantly  of 
the  party,  and  Tante  Greta,  once  she  had  to  some 
extent  recovered  from  her  astonishment,  had  very 
kindly  entered  into  her  young  niece's  plans.  She  had 
been  quite  dazed  when  she  found  that  her  father  had 
actually  consented  to  let  Audrey  have  a  party. 

"Tante  Greta,  I  want  to  go  to  Boo  to-day,  you 
know  we  were  talking  about  the  cake  and  I  do  so 
want  one  with  spun  sugar.  I'd  like  to  go  and  see  Fru 
Wallman,  myself,  besides  I  do  so  want  to  see  Boo !" 

Valfried  had  been  sent  for  as  her  grandmother 
had  arrived,  and  Audrey  had  come  down  to  find  her 
aunt  sitting  alone  on  the  stone  balcony.  She  looked 
up  at  her  niece  with  her  very  near-sighted  gaze  and 
said  rather  doubtfully. 

"By  yourself?  You've  never  been  there  before. 
I  don't  suppose  there  is  any  harm  in  it,  the  boat  will 
stop  in  just  a  few  moments.  You  will  have  to  hurry 
to  make  yourself  tidy,"  she  said. 

"Yes,  I  will.     Valfried  would  go  with  me  but  her 


174  Midsummer 

grandmother  has  come  to  visit  them  and  she  says 
it  would  not  be  respectful."  Audrey  laughed  as  she 
gave  her  aunt  a  hug. 

"Valfried  is  quite  right,  you  talk  so  fast,  child,  it  is 
difficult  for  me  to  follow  you.  It  is  but  a  short  sail 
to  Boo,  be  sure  you  are  back  for  supper."  Greta 
Essen  kissed  her  niece  and  watched  her  as  she  ran 
down  the  steep,  rocky  path  toward  the  landing.  Al- 
ready the  white  boat  had  emerged  from  the  rocky 
hiding  place  and  was  making  its  way  towards  the 
landing.  Greta  stood  on  the  balcony  until  she  saw 
her  niece  safely  on  board  and  had  waved  her  good- 
bye, then  she  spoke  over  her  shoulder  to  her  father 
who  had  been  dozing  in  a  chair  near  the  window 
and  who  had  suddenly  roused  himself. 

"Audrey  has  gone  to  Boo  to  order  a  cake,  I 
thought  there  was  no  harm  in  her  going  alone.  She 
has  talked  of  the  party  all  the  time  since  you  told 
her  she  might  have  it  and  she  has  really  planned  it 
all  very  well."  She  came  up  to  her  father  and  spoke 
with  more  eagerness  than  she  had  known  for  years. 
"Father,  she  is  really  a  wonderful  sort  of  child,  so 
alive,  so  interested;  she  almost  makes  me  feel  young 
again."  Tante  Greta  caught  her  breath  with  a  little 
sob  as  she  spoke. 

"She  is  a  fine  enough  child  but  too  fond  of  her 
own  way,  too  much  of  a  manager.  You  are  right 
though,  she  is  remarkable."  He  sighed  as  he  spoke 
but  there  was  something  in  his  voice  that  his  daugh- 


Boo  175 

ter  had  not  heard  for  many  years;  it  was  as  though 
again  there  was  coming  to  him  an  interest,  however 
faint,  in  something  besides  himself.  It  emboldened 
her  to  say  something  she  feared  would  displease  him. 

"Audrey  has  taken  a  fancy  to  Knut  Carlson's  fam- 
ily, she  wants  to  ask  the  children  to  the  party." 

To  her  surprise  the  old  man  burst  out  laughing. 

"Why  not,  why  not?  It's  her  party,  isn't  it?  Let 
her  ask  all  the  fisher  folk  from  here  to  Gustafsburg 
if  so  she  wills.  I'll  manage  to  lock  myself  in  here 
and  to  keep  away  from  the  noise.  I  told  her  to  do 
as  she  liked,  and  I  knew  she  would  do  something 
queer!"  He  chuckled  to  himself  as  he  leaned  over 
cautiously  to  poke  the  fire.  Greta  was  glad  to  see 
him  in  such  good  humor,  and  surprised  at  his  atti- 
tude about  the  party. 

"I've  been  surprised  at  something  ever  since  Aud- 
rey came,"  she  thought  smiling  a  little  to  herself. 
Almost  without  knowing  what  she  did,  she  put  her 
hand  on  the  old  man's  shoulder.  "Father,"  she  said, 
speaking  suddenly,  impulsively.  "Oh  father,  do  you 
remember — the  old  days?  Yes,  yes,  I  must  speak," 
as  the  old  count  shook  his  head  violently.  "They 
are  so  near,  just  now,  the  old  days,  Sigried  and  I 
and—" 

"Tante  Greta,  I've  got  a  fish,  a  whopper,  do  come 
down  and  see  him!" 

It  was  Sven,  he  stood  in  the  doorway  wiping  the 
beads  of  perspiration  from  his  forehead  with  a 


176  Midsummer 

grimy  handkerchief.  His  aunt  came  across  the  room 
toward  him  and  put  her  arm  around  his  shoulders. 
She  had  never  done  so  before  and  Sven  looked  up 
at  her  in  some  surprise. 

"Come,  Tante  Greta,  if  you  don't  mind  the  climb 
I  want  you  to  see  him,  he's  such  a  stunner.  My  hat, 
but  I'm  glad  I've  caught  him!  Bjorn  and  Nils 
haven't  thought  so  much  of  my  fishing  but  I'll  bet 
they'll  change  their  minds."  Greta  went  out  with 
him,  walking  down  to  the  rocks  to  see  the  fine  big 
fish  that  he  had  caught.  She  had  an  odd  feeling  of 
pride  about  the  fish,  and  was  glad  that  he  had  caught 
it  instead  of  one  of  the  other  boys.  She,  too,  was  be- 
ginning to  be  interested  in  something  besides  her 
own  troubles. 

Meanwhile  Audrey's  sail  to  Boo  was  almost  at  an 
end.  She  was  enjoying  the  fresh  breeze,  the  crisp, 
curling  waves,  and  the  breath  of  pines  as  they  glid- 
ed near  shore;  but  she  was  eager  to  reach  Boo  and 
was  the  first  to  run  down  the  gang  plank  as  the 
steamer  reached  the  little  landing.  She  had  had  di- 
rections from  Hjalmar  how  to  reach  Fru  Wall- 
man's  cottage  and — yes,  there  was  the  little  pine 
path,  through  the  wood,  just  as  he  had  said.  She 
ran  lightly  down  the  scented  quiet  path  and  then 
found  herself,  as  Hjalmar  had  told  her  she  would, 
on  the  main  village  street. 

It  was  only  a  road.  On  one  side  was  a  long  strag- 
gling row  of  fisher  cottages  and  on  the  other,  broad 


Boo  177 

meadows,  fields  of  wheat,  a  gleaming  tossing  mass 
of  gold  and  blue,  for  corn  flowers  grew  among  the 
wheat  and  the  sun  shone  in  full  splendor. 

Hjalmar  had  said  to  walk  past  the  fisher  huts  and 
she  would  come  to  Fru  Wallman's  cottage  at  the 
beginning  of  the  village.  The  cottage  was  painted 
green.  She  could  not  miss  it.  Beyond  it  were  the 
cottages  of  the  village  folk,  the  little  post  office  and 
the  general  store. 

Boo!  Was  there  ever  so  funny  a  name  —  just 
Bop!  Audrey  smiled  to  herself  as  she  ran  along 
the  road.  She  called  gaily  to  a  dog  who  appeared 
suddenly  from  under  a  fence,  and  the  funny  squat 
animal  trotted  along  side  her.  "Were  all  the  dogs 
in  Sweden  dachshunds?"  she  wondered. 

"You  funny  little  fellow,  I  suppose  you  think  this 
queer  little  Boo  place  is  the  whole  world,  don't  you?" 
She  talked  to  the  dog  gaily  as  they  ran  along  the 
sun-touched  road  together.  The  air  was  so  clear 
it  seemed  fairly  to  sing  with  life.  On  one  side  of  the 
road  now  were  fields  of  barley,  oats  and  rye,  grey- 
green,  gleaming  as  far  as  she  could  see. 

Two  girls  came  along  the  road  towards  her,  sing- 
ing. She  had  heard  the  song  before,  Ingeborg  had 
sung  it: 

"Oh,  Jenta,  Oh  Jag, 
Oh,  Jenta,  Oh  Jag." 

They  carried  a  heavy  pail  of  milk  between  them, 


178  Midsummer 

and  as  they  passed  Audrey  they  stared  at  her  openly 
as  did  all  the  country  people.  Audrey  was  used  to 
it  and  knew  they  meant  no  discourtesy.  She  turned 
back  and  spoke  to  them  in  her  quaint  Swedish. 

"Is  that  Fru  Wallman's  cottage,  please?"  nod- 
ding towards  a  little  green  house  in  the  distance. 
"I've  never  been  in  Boo,  so  I  don't  know  my  way 
about."  She  wanted  to  hear  the  girls  talk  and  was 
not  disappointed  for  they  both  started  at  once  to 
assure  her  that  indeed  it  was  the  cottage  where  lived 
the  good  Fru  Wallman  who  made  such  fine  cakes. 
So  the  young  Froken  had  never  been  in  Boo  before. 
That  was  strange.  Would  the  Froken  credit  it  when 
they  told  her  that  they  had  never  been  anywhere  else 
except  twice  to  Gustafsburg  and  several  times,  of 
course,  up  and  down  the  skerries? 

They  were  very  talkative  indeed,  and  Audrey  was 
so  interested  in  them  that  she  almost  forgot  about 
her  cake.  They  were  so  very  smiling  and  red- 
cheeked,  their  Swedish  was  so  swift  and  wonderful, 
they  showed  such'white  teeth  when  they  laughed! 
The  young  peasant  girls  were  quite  as  interested  in 
Audrey  as  she  in  them.  How  different  was  she  from 
anything  they  had  ever  seen  before!  In  her  white 
and  red  sailor  suit,  her  dark  hair  flying  about  her 
shoulders,  her  odd  halting  Swedish. 

Yes,  the  little  Froken  would  find  the  good  Fru 
Wallman  at  home,  she  was  baking  many  cakes  for 
the  garden  party  of  the  pastor.  Was  the  Froken  per- 


Boo  179 

haps  English,  or,  no — American?  Yes?  Then  there 
were  two  foreigners  who  had  honored  Boo  with 
their  presence,  a  dark  gentleman  had  come,  he  was 
rooming  at  Fru  Barbetsson's  and  he  was  painting 
their  pictures !  He  had  only  been  there  a  few  days, 
he  and  his  odd  little  servant  boy,  but  already  he  was 
painting  them.  He  had  seen  them  at  once,  going  by 
with  the  milk  and  that  very  day  he  had  begun  their 
picture — yes,  with  their  black  and  red  and  yellow 
aprons,  their  hair  in  braids  just  this  way,  wound 
about  their  heads.  They  had  stood  against  a  hay- 
rack in  the  sunshine  and  he  had  worked  away  for 
some  time. 

There  was  no  doubt  of  Audrey's  interest,  but  she 
could  not  understand  all  they  said,  and  they  patient- 
ly, by  pantomime  and  many  words,  tried  to  explain 
it  all,  for  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  little  stranger 
girl  was  very  anxious  to  hear  about  the  artist. 

"It  may  be  that  he  is  her  father  or  uncle,  perhaps, 
who  knows  ?  At  any  rate  she  indeed  seemed  glad  to 
hear  all  that  we  had  to  tell,"  they  said  to  each  other 
as  they  started  on  their  way. 

"Could  it  be  the  dark  stranger?"  She  ran  along 
the  road.  "Surely  it  must  be  Astrid's  rescuer!  Why 
had  he  come?"  She  was  so  engrossed  in  her  excited 
thoughts  that  she  went  beyond  Fru  Wallman's  gate 
and  had  to  turn  back.  She  knocked  at  the  little  green 
door  and  a  moment  later  a  short  peaked-faced  little 
woman  in  a  short,  white-skirted  dress  and  white  cap 


180  Midsummer 

peered  around  the  corner  of  the  door.  When  she 
saw  Audrey,  she  opened  it  wide. 

uls  it  Fru  Wallman?"  asked  Audrey  in  her  best 
Swedish.  The  cap  nodded  vigorously  and  two  bright 
little  eyes  gazed  curiously  at  Audrey.  Would  the 
little  Froken  come  in  and  sit  down? 

Audrey  followed  Fru  Wallman  inside  the  cot- 
tage. It  was  an  odd  room,  this  one  in  which  she 
found  herself.  There  were  red  curtains  at  the  win- 
dows, red  and  white,  and  around  the  edge  were  wov- 
en the  little  figures  of  men  and  women  in  Swedish 
dress.  Fru  Wallman  herself  had  woven  them  and 
the  loom,  a  very  old  one  indeed,  stood  in  one  corner 
cf  the  room.  Her  grandmother  and  her  greatgrand- 
mother  had  used  it  before  her.  There  was  a  built- 
in  oven  at  one  end  of  the  room  and  there  was  the 
rich  odor  of  freshly  baked  cake  in  the  air.  A  black 
cat  sat  in  front  of  the  oven.  Audrey  caught  her  up 
and  at  Fru  Wallman's  invitation,  sat  down  with  her 
in  her  arms  in  a  low  chair. 

"This  is  almost  the  first  cat  I've  seen  since  I've  been 
in  Sweden/'  she  told  the  old  woman,  holding  pussy 
close  to  her  face  as  she  spoke. 

"Yes,  Froken,  the  neighbors  call  me  foolish 
because  I  have  her.  Here  in  Sweden  they  do 
not  want  cats  about,  Froken,  they  say  they  bring  bad 
luck." 

"Why  that's  the  first  silly  thing  I've  heard  about 
Sweden,  how  can  they  be  so  stupid!"  She  patted  the 


Boo  181 

cat  and  put  her  upon  her  shoulder  where  she  sat  and 
purred  in  gratitude  for  the  attention. 

uFru  Wallman,  I  can  only  stay  a  few  minutes, 
but  I  want  to  know  if  you  will  bake  a  cake  for  me. 
I'm  going  to  give  a  party,  my  brother  and  I.  We  want 
to  ask  all  the  people  who  have  been  so  kind  to  us 
this  summer,  there  are  a  good  many,  so  we'll  want 
a  very  large  cake  and  the  very  finest  kind  you  make. 
We'd  like  best  one  with  spun  sugar  and  whipped 
cream,  but  I'll  leave  it  to  you,  I  know  you'll  do  the 
very  best  for  us."  She  looked  up  smilingly  at  Fru 
Wallman  as  she  spoke. 

"Surely  it  shall  be  the  finest  cake  that  ever  left  this 
cottage.  And  where  am  I  to  send  it,  Froken?" 

Audrey  had  stood  up  and  put  the  cat  down  gently. 
uTo  the  castle  on  the  rocks,  please,  but  we  can  quite 
easily  send  for  it,"  she  answered. 

Fru  Wallman  took  off  her  glasses  and  stared  at 
Audrey.  uThe  castle  on  the  rocks,"  she  repeated. 
"Was  she  then,  could  it  be  that  she  was  the  little 
granddaughter  of  the  Greve  Essen !  What  an  honor 
indeed  that  she  wished  her  to  make  a  cake!  Ah! 
but  it  would  be  a  cake  of  beauty  and  of  richness !" 
She  stood  in  the  little  doorway  as  Audrey  started 
down  the  steps.  "I  will  send  my  boy,  you  need  not 
worry  but  that  it  will  reach  the  castle  in  good  time, 
Froken,"  she  said. 

"All  right,  supper  won't  be  until  quite  late,  about 
eight.  I  think  we'll  have  some  tableaux  afterwards." 


1 82  Midsummer 

She  hesitated  and  then  came  back  up  the  step,  stand- 
ing with  her  hands  clasped  behind  her  and  looking 
up  at  the  curious  kindly  face  of  the  little  old  woman. 

"The  dark  stranger  who  has  come  here  to  paint 
pictures,  have  you  seen  him,  Fru  Wallman?" 

"But  indeed,  he  had  only  just  come  and  he  had  a 
funny  boy  with  him.  He  lodged  with  Fru  Barbetsson, 
widow  of  the  apoteck,  and  yes,  he  paid  well.  Yes,  yes 
he  was  of  the  great  world,  Fru  Barbetsson  had  said 
so,  his  things  were  of  the  finest  and  he  had  letters 
sent  on  from  his  rooms  in  Stockholm ;  they  were  from 
Paris  and  from  Russia,  Fru  Barbetsson  had  said!" 

Audrey  could  not  understand  very  much  of  all  that 
Fru  Wallman  said.  She  said  good-bye,  waving  to 
the  cat  who  had  come  to  the  doorway  and  stood  look- 
ing after  her.  When  she  left  Fru  Wallman's  cot- 
tage she  walked  on  down  the  village  street.  There 
were  low  cottages  on  each  side,  which  were  painted 
mostly  grey  or  white  and  had  odd  peaked  roofs.  A 
number  of  light  tousled-haired  children  were  play- 
ing about  the  doorways,  they  stared  at  Audrey  and 
she  smiled  back  at  them.  There  was  the  odor  of 
frying  fish  in  the  air. 

The  school  house  stood  at  the  end  of  the  road,  a 
little  beyond  the  village.  There  was  nothing  beyond 
the  school  house  except  an  old  tumbled  mass  of 
rocks  which  had  once  been  a  church.  The  sun  shone 
full  upon  its  grey  gloom,  glancing  through  the  open- 
ings that  had  once  been  long  arched  windows.  It 


Boo  183 

was  fascinating  to  look  through  them,  and  to  watch 
the  trees  blowing  so  close  that  the  branches  peeped 
in  every  now  and  then.  Audrey  at  once  liked  the 
old  ruin,  with  the  ivy  creeping  around  it  and  the  air 
blowing  through  it.  She  sat  down  under  a  tree  by 
the  wayside,  opposite  it,  folded  her  hands  about  her 
knees  and  rested. 

Suddenly  she  gave  a  start.  There  was  a  face  in  the 
window,  such  a  funny  long  dark  face.  It  peered  out 
at  her,  then  disappeared. 

"It's  the  boy,"  she  thought  excitedly,  "it's  Dom- 
ski,  they  said  he  had  a  long,  dark  face.  Sven  said  he 
looked  rather  like  a  monkey!" 

The  next  moment  she  was  sure  for  Domski  came 
out  through  the  tumbled  arched  doorway,  stood 
there  a  moment,  in  front  of  the  ruin,  as  though  too 
shy  to  speak  to  her,  and  would  have  gone  on  had  she 
not  called  out  to  him. 

"Are  you  Domski?"  she  asked  smilingly.  He 
came  close  to  her  and  removed  his  cap.  "Yes,  Fro- 
ken,  can  I  be  of  service  to  you,  and  if  it  is  not  for- 
ward, let  me  ask  how  you  knew  my  name !" 

So  Audrey  told  him  who  she  was  and  how  they 
had  talked  of  him  so  many  times,  and  of  the  night 
when  Astrid  was  lost.  Domski  was  full  of  smiles  and 
pleasure,  and  soon  forgot  his  shyness  so  that  he 
talked  with  her  as  well  as  their  limited  knowledge  of 
Swedish  would  let  them.  Audrey  found  that  Dom- 
ski knew  a  little  English,  having  heard  his  master 


184  Midsummer 

speak  it,  and  they  began  to  mix  up  Swedish  and  Eng- 
lish words  in  a  way  that  made  Audrey  throw  back 
her  head  and  laugh.  Domski  was  having  a  real 
holiday  he  told  Audrey.  No  more  steep  stairs  to 
climb,  no  meals  to  cook.  Just  being  out  of  doors, 
carrying  his  master's  easel  from  one  place  to  another 
and  looking  after  his  things. 

"He  seems  in  good  spirits,  the  master.  Yet,  too,  I 
do  not  know,  he  is — what  do  you  call  it,  nervous, 
and  sometimes  he  still  looks  so  sad.  Of  the  castle 
on  the  rocks  he  thinks  much,  he  has  been  past  it 
several  times  in  a  motor  boat.  Oh,  but  yes,  he  has 
been  early  always,  early  in  the  morning." 

"And  Nore,"  asked  Audrey  eagerly,  "Nore  who 
found  you  when  the  boys  were  mocking  you,  Sven 
said  you  told  him  about  it  that  morning  when  Astrid 
was  found,  have  you  seen  anything  of  Nore?" 

Domski  shook  his  head.  "I  told  the  master  I 
would  so  like  to  see  the  young  Swedish  lad  who  was 
so  friendly.  I  said,  'I  feel,  sir,  that  he  is  my  friend/ 
and  the  master  answered:  'You  will  see  him  all  in 
good  time' — there  he  is  now,  the  master;  listen  I  hear 
him  singing." 

Somewhere  near  them,  it  was  true,  a  man  was 
singing;  his  voice  seemed  to  come  from  behind  the 
church,  some  way  off.  Clearly  and  sweetly  it  rang 
through  the  still  evening  air. 

"I  whispered  my    great    sorrow    to  every  listening 
sedge, 


Boo  185 

And  they  bent,  bowed  with  my  sorrow,  down  to  the 
water's  edge." 

The  haunting  air  floated  towards  them — "And 
they  bent,  bowed  with  my  sorrow,  down  to  the 
water's  edge!"  The  next  moment  Eugene  appeared 
around  the  corner  of  the  church.  When  he  saw  Aud- 
rey and  the  Russian  lad,  the  song  died  on  his  lips. 
He  came  towards  them  and  bowed  to  Audrey.  He 
wore  no  hat  and  the  wind  ruffled  his  dark  hair.  He 
looked  tired  and  a  little  sad  but  as  Domski  had 
said,  there  was  something  about  him,  something  that 
spoke  of  excitement,  of  suspense. 

Domski  did  the  honors  at  once.  "This  is  the 
sister  of  the  young  gentleman  of  the  castle  who  had 
dejeuner  with  us  the  morning  when  the  little  girl 
was  found.  This  is  the  young  lady  who  has  come  so 
far,  from  America  to  see  her  grandfather  in  the 
castle  on  the  rocks.  I  present  you  to  her — my  master, 
the  illustrious  artist  and  the  young  Miss  Essen." 
Domski  bowed  low  as  he  spoke,  and  his  whole  man- 
ner was  so  like  that  of  various  people  of  different 
nationalities  that  he  had  seen  on  his  travels  with 
Eugene,  that  the  artist  could  not  help  but  laugh,  and 
Audrey  joined  in. 

"Indeed,  we  should  feel  well  acquainted  after  so 
fine  an  introduction,  Mademoiselle,  and  now 
Domski,  will  you  be  so  good  as  to  tell  the  sailor, 
Bergman,  that  I  shall  want  the  motor  boat  surely 


i86  Midsummer 

tomorrow."  Domski  bowed  to  Audrey  and  ran 
down  toward  the  shore,  to  the  old  sailor's  cabin. 

Before  Eugene  could  speak  after  the  lad  had  gone, 
Audrey  said  impulsively. 

"Oh,  would  you  mind  telling  me,  sir,  why  you 
wanted  to  know  who  Norc  was,  that  night  at  Has- 
slebacken.  I've  thought  and  thought  about  it — per- 
haps it  was  just  an  odd  coincidence,  but — you  see 
I've  wondered  about  Nore  from  the  very  first.  He 
just  seemed  different  from  any  one  I've  ever  known, 
like  someone  perhaps  in  a  fairy  story,  so  you  see  how 
odd  it  seemed  when  you  came  up  and  spoke  to  him." 
She  had  talked  on  in  her  usual  quick  impulsive  way 
and  the  man's  face  deepened  with  interest  as  she 
finished. 

UA  fairy  story,  who  knows,"  he  said.  "Listen, 
Mademoiselle,  I  cannot  tell  you  anything  now.  It 
would  not  be  quite  honorable  I  think.  First  there 
is  one  person  I  must  see.  Only  this  can  I  say  to  you 
in  all  earnestness.  For  years  I  have  had  a  dream,  this 
summer  I  have  come  to  Sweden,  led  here  by  a  chance 
word.  Chance?  Perhaps  not,  just  let  us  say,  a 
whisper  in  answer  to  what,  .for  a  better  name, 
I  will  call  a  prayer.  What  will  come  of  it  I  cannot 
say,  we  shall  know  so  soon,  and  in  the  meantime, 
Mademoiselle,  I  can,  I  am  certain,  rely  upon  your 
silence." 

Audrey  clasped  her  hands  together  and  looked  up 
earnestly  at  the  man's  pale,  intense  face.  "Of  course 


Boo  187 

I  shall  be  silent  until  you  tell  me  when  to  speak," 
she  said. 

Eugene  smiled.  "Perhaps  there  will  be  nothing 
to  tell,  little  Mademoiselle,  perhaps  you  and  I  have 
let  fairy  tales  get  the  better  of  us,  perhaps — 

"It  is  quite  well  about  the  boat,  master,  you  may 
have  it,  tomorrow,  says  the  good  sailor,  Bergman." 
Domski  appeared  suddenly  from  the  rocks. 

Audrey  turned  to  him.  "Domski,"  she  said, 
"my  brother  and  I  are  having  a  party  at  the  castle, 
day  after  tomorrow  night.  It  begins  at  six  o'clock 
and  I  hope  that  you  will  come." 

Domski  looked  at  her  in  dumb  amazement  and 
then  turned  to  Eugene.  It  was  he  who  answered 
Audrey:  "You  are  very  kind,  Mademoiselle,  he  has 
had  only  a  few  pleasures,  he  will  come  to  your  party 
at  six." 

"That  is  my  boat  whistle.  I'm  glad  Domski  will 
come.  I'll  try  to  be  patient,  I'll  try  to  wait  until  I 
can  know  what  it  all  means — your  dream  and  Nore 
— and  everything."  She  held  out  her  hand  and  he 
took  it,  bowing  over  it  in  his  foreign  way. 

They  saw  her  off  on  the  boat,  Eugene  and  the 
boy,  standing  silently  but  not  waving  as  was  the 
Swedish  way.  The  sail  back  was  enchanting.  Some 
peasants  were  having  picnics  in  the  woods  and  when 
the  boat  glided  near  shore,  Audrey  could  hear  faint 
bursts  of  music  and  laughter  and  the  flash  of  their 
dresses,  scarlet  and  gold,  through  the  trees.  On  the 


1 88  Midsummer 

wide  water  ways  the  northern  lights  glimmered 
weirdly,  rose,  scarlet  and  cold  green,  unearthly  in 
their  splendor. 

Life  was  so  wonderful.  A  few  weeks  ago  she  had 
known  only  the  ordinary  round  of  things,  living  in 
a  most  every  day  world,  school  and  meals  and  an 
occasional  matinee,  and  now !  Now  she  almost  knew 
a  secret  and  a  mystery.  All  sorts  of  things  were 
happening  around  her. 


CHAPTER  15 
In  the  Tower 

"DON'T  forget  the  party,  Nore,  it's  going  to  be  fun. 
Remember  to  fish  and  fish  today  because  you'll  have 
to  play  tomorrow,  we're  going  to  have  tableaux. 
That  will  be  fun.  Tante  Greta  said  I  could  go  up  to 
the  tower  where  there  are  trunks  filled  with  old 
dresses  and  things.  It  will  be  sort  of  weird  up  there, 
it's  such  a  rainy  day." 

Audrey  drew  her  coat  closely  around  her  as  she 
spoke,  and  Nore  buttoned  the  collar  of  his  rubber 
jacket.  Sven,  who  wore  no  coat  at  all,  came  run- 
ning towards  them  along  the  beach.  "I'm  training 
a  little  so  I  thought  I'd  just  come  out  and  run  like 
this."  He  wore  golf  trousers  and  a  silk  shirt  which 
was  drenched  with  rain. 

"You'd  better  not  let  Tante  Greta  see  you,"  said 
Audrey. 

"Are  you  off  for  the  day,  Nore?  I  wish  I  could 
go  with  you."  Sven  spoke  in  jerks  for  he  had  been 
running  hard. 

"No,  you'll  have  to  stay  and  help  a  little  about  the 

189 


190  Midsummer 

party.     We1  re  going  up  to  the  tower,  and  I'm  not 
very  keen  about  going  up  to  that  spooky  place  alone." 

"I  wish  you  could  both  come,"  said  Nore  a  little 
wistfully.  "I  often  wish  that  I  had  some  one  to  talk 
to,  but  today  is  no  time,  it  will  be  worse  yet."  He 
looked  off  down  the  bay  as  he  spoke,  then  at  the  sky. 
"It  will  be  the  worst  storm  we  have  had  for  a  long 
day,"  he  said  quietly. 

"Well,  we  must  have  sunshine  tomorrow.  You 
must  prophesy  good  weather  and  lots  of  fun  for  the 
party,  Nore,"  laughed  Audrey. 

"Yes,  we  must  have  a  bully  day  tomorrow,"  as- 
sented Svcn. 

Nore  smiled  and  at  once  his  face  had  the  look  of 
carefree  happiness  that  had  been  there  when  he 
spoke  of  the  pictures  to  Eugene. 

"Tomorrow,  surely  tomorrow  will  be  a  day  of 
gladness.  The  sun  will  come  in  tonight  and  it  will 
stay  all  tomorrow,"  he  tightened  his  sail,  drew  his 
nets  under  the  seat,  slipped  his  anchor  and  sailed 
slowly  out. 

"You'll  be  careful  if  the  storm  is  worse,  won't  you 
Nore?"  called  Sven  and  Nore's  voice  came  back  to 
them  through  the  rain.  "Never  fear,  I'll  be  safe 
under  shelter." 

"He's  foolish  to  go  out  today  but  he's  just  as  used 
to  the  water  as  a  fish.  Besides  they  are  poor  enough, 
the  Carlsons,  Hjalmar  says  they  have  barely  enough 
to  eat  during  the  winter  months.  He  says  they  live 


In  the  Tower  191 

on  the  money  from  Nore's  fishing,  and  the  mother's 
weaving."  Sven  spoke  thoughtfully,  then  he  grabbed 
Audrey's  arm.  "Haven't  you  any  sense,  standing 
out  here  in  the  rain?  Why  it's  begun  to  pour  and  the 
wind's  coming  up  like  everything;  let's  go  in  and 
change  and  then  let's  think  of  something  to  do." 

It  rained  all  day.  By  afternoon  the  sky  was  black 
and  the  fierce  sun  somewhere  behind  the  clouds  gave 
them  a  purplish,  sinister  look. 

uFor  goodness  sake,  Sven,  stop  whistling,  you  just 
stand  there  at  the  window  and  whistle  and  whistle. 
Let's  do  something,  let's  go  up  to  the  tower.  I'm 
tired  of  this  funny  day,  grandfather's  asleep  and 
Tante  Greta  just  sits  and  sews.  She  says  we  can  look 
in  the  trunks  up  there,  so  come  on,"  Audrey  pulled 
Sven  impatiently  by  the  arm. 

"All  right,  we  might  as  well,  I  suppose,  or  we 
could  go  over  to  the  Zanders,  if  you  wern't  so  afraid 
of  a  little  wetting.  Why  you  could  put  on  my — " 

"Oh,  hush,"  interrupted  Audrey  crossly,  "I  don't 
want  to  go  to  the  Zanders.  I  think  Valfried  might 
come  over  here,  it's  just  because  she's  so  afraid  her 
grandmother  won't  think  she's  attentive  if  she  isn't 
waiting  on  her  all  the  time.  Let's  see  if  we  can  find 
something  for  charades,  do,  come  on  up." 

"All  right,  all  right,  come  on  then  and  don't  talk 
sc  much,"  answered  Sven,  a  little  crossly. 

Audrey  took  her  brother's  hand  and  laughingly 
pulled  him  towards  the  stairs. 


192  Midsummer 

"You  ask  Tante  Greta  if  we  can  make  fudge  to- 
night, Sven,  we  always  used  to  make  it  at  home  on 
rainy  days.  Listen,  isn't  that  awful!"  Audrey  stop- 
ped short  on  the  first  step  of  the  last  staircase  lead- 
ing to  the  tower.  There  was  an  almost  unearthly 
groaning  and  creaking  and  far  off  the  sinister  roll 
of  thunder. 

"It's  only  the  wind  and  we  are  going  to  have  a 
thunder  storm.  Wait,  don't  go  so  fast,  the  candle  will 
blow  out,"  answered  Sven.  The  stairs  were  steep 
but  quite  wide  and  when  they  reached  the  top  they 
found  that  the  tower  room  itself  was  very  much 
larger  than  they  had  supposed. 

"Tante  Greta  said  the  lamp  was  in  a  standard  at 
the  top  of  the  stairs.  Here  it  is  and  here's  a  candle, 
several  of  them,  in  brackets.  Wait  I'll  light  up,  it's 
darker  than  a  Georgia  camp  meeting  here,"  said 
Sven,  taking  some  matches  from  his  pockets.  "If 
we  are  going  to  do  much  snooping  around  we'll  have 
to  have  some  light." 

"Snooping,  what  a  horrible  word,  Sven,  you  do 
make  things  so  uninteresting  but  I'm  glad  you're 
here.  Yes,  the  light  is  better."  Audrey  sat  down  a 
minute  on  an  old  settle  to  rest,  and  Sven  went 
over  and  looked  out  of  one  of  the  narrow  windows. 
He  gave  a  low  exclamation,  then  he  said:  "Some 
view!" 

Audrey  went  over  and  stood  beside  him  looking 
out. 


In  the  Tower  193 

uOh,  Sven,  the  sky  and  the  sea  from  here,  they 
frighten  me!" 

"Well,  let's  look  around,  don't  stand  here  forever 
at  the  window.  You  wanted  to  look  through  the 
trunks  for  tableau  things.  Come  on,  let's  have  a  look 
then."  Audrey  turned  away,  glad  to  leave  the  sight 
of  the  foaming,  yellow-green  sea,  the  angry,  copper 
sky  and  the  flashes  of  green  that  spoke  of  an  electric 
storm.  The  rain  slashed  against  the  windows  and 
the  wind  howled  mournfully. 

Sven  spied  one  of  the  old  canvas  trunks  in  a  corner 
and  pulled  it  out  into  the  middle  of  the  room.  He 
tugged  at  the  cover.  "Where  the  keys?"  he  de- 
manded. 

"Oh,  Sven,  I  forgot  them!" 

"Isn't  that  just  like  a  girl?  Well,  I'll  go  down  and 
find  out  where  they  are." 

"Don't  be  long,  will  you?  Hurry  right  back." 
Audrey  begged,  coming  to  the  top  step  and  looking 
after  him  as  he  clamored  down. 

"All  right,  but  what  on  earth  do  you  think  will 
eat  you?"  called  back  Sven.  He  whistled  as  he  went, 
bursting  now  and  then  into  song  in  a  rough  uneven 
voice  that  occasionally  went  way  up  the  scale  with- 
out his  apparently  being  able  to  help  it. 

"Arrah  wanna,  on  my  honnah,  I'll  take  care  of  you, 
I'll  be  kind  and  true." 

His  voice  died  away. 


194  Midsummer 

When  she  was  left  alone  Audrey  began  to  look 
about  her.  She  found  a  large,  greenish  velvet  curtain 
which  would  do  fairly  well  for  a  drop  curtain  for 
the  tableaux.  She  came  across  two  dolls  sitting  stol- 
idly against  the  wall,  waxen  beauties  in  faded  finery 
of  long  ago. 

"Dolls !  Xante  Greta  and  mother  playing  dolls," 
she  thought,  picking  them  up  and  looking  at  them 
curiously.  She  dreamed  over  them  a  few  minutes, 
listening  for  Sven's  footsteps.  There  was  only 
silence. 

She  tried  to  open  one  of  the  windows  a  little  way 
for  the  air  was  so  musty,  but  she  could  not  move  any 
of  them.  They  were  seared  by  grey  years  of  storm 
and  dust.  "Anyway,  the  rain  would  tear  in;  my, 
how  it  does  slash  against  the  castle,  it's  so  angry," 
she  thought. 

"Oh,  bother,"  she  said  out  loud.  "Sven,"  she 
called,  "Sven,  hurry  up."  The  wind  drowned  her 
voice  and  there  was  only  silence  below.  She  spied 
a  bit  of  color  in  a  far  corner  of  the  room  and  run- 
ning over  she  stooped  and  picked  it  up ;  it  was  a  faded 
shawl,  quite  a  large  one.  "It  will  come  in  splendidly 
for  tomorrow  night,"  she  thought.  What  was  that? 
Something  bright.  She  stooped  over  again  and  saw 
that  it  was  the  edge  of  a  gold  picture  frame.  She 
looked  closely  and  saw  that  it  was  a  very  large  ob- 
ject half  hidden  there  in  that  grey  deserted  corner. 
She  would  never  have  noticed  it  had  it  not  been  for 


In  the  Tower  195 

the  faint  gleaming  of  the  gilt  frame.  A  picture — 
how  odd!  It  seemed  so  large,  so  magnificent  in  its 
setting  and  there  it  was,  face  downwards,  on  the 
dusty  floor,  as  though  for  many  years  it  had  been 
abandoned  and  forgotten. 

She  tried  to  lift  it  but  at  first  she  could  not  move 
it.  After  several  tugs  she  managed  to  move  it  and 
finally  to  lift  it  so  that  she  could  stand  it  upright 
against  the  wall.  She  was  breathing  heavily  when 
at  last  she  turned  it.  Then  she  sank  back  on  her 
knees,  her  hands  fell  at  her  sides.  The  wan  light 
from  the  high  window  touched  the  picture,  and  Aud- 
rey knelt  there  in  her  young  bewilderment  and 
amazement,  staring  up. 

It  was  the  picture  of  a  young  lad,  sixteen,  possibly 
a  little  older.  He  was  dressed  in  a  kirtle  or  long  cloak 
of  old  blue.  Around  his  waist  was  a  leather  belt, 
studded  with  jewels;  about  his  shoulders  was  flung 
a  scarlet  mantle.  His  whole  appearance  gave  one 
the  thought  of  gold  and  scarlet  for  his  hair  was  gold- 
colored  and  he  wore  a  gold  helmet.  On  his  feet  he 
wore  long  tan  leather  boots  and  gold  spurs,  a  gold 
sword  also  crusted  with  jewels  hung  from  his  belt 
at  his  side. 

Audrey  scarcely  saw  all  this,  the  gold  and  scarlet 
and  jewels,  the  old-time  Viking  dress.  She  saw  only 
the  face! 

Silently  she  knelt  there  in  the  deepening  darkness, 
scarcely  heeding  the  loud  clamor  of  Sven's  shoes  on 


196  Midsummer 

the  stone  stairs,  the  wild  rush  ofvthe  rain  against  the 
windows. 

"Tante  Greta  had'  to  hunt  for  the  keys,"  he  pant- 
ed. "She  never  comes  up  here  and  said  she  doesn't 
think  there's  anything  we  want — what's — " 

"It's  Nore,"  she  gasped,  turning  slightly  towards 
her  brother.  "It's  Nore,"  she  repeated. 

The  next  minute  she  jumped  up  and  ran  like  a 
flash  down  the  stairs,  down,  down,  to  the  very  heart 
of  the  strange  old  castle.  Her  breath  came  quickly, 
she  wondered  if  the  stairs  would  ever  end,  were  there 
hundreds  and  hundreds  of  them,  would  she  ever 
reach  the  end  of  them?  Lightning  flashed  at  her 
through  the  windows  as  she  passed  a  landing,  thun- 
der and  wind  roared  about  her.  On  she  rushed, 
through  doors  that  creaked  on  their  hinges  as  she 
flung  them  aside,  on  into  the  great  hall,  and  through 
it  to  the  library  beyond. 

Tante  Greta,  her  blue  shawl  close  about  her 
shoulders  was  standing  by  the  half  dying  fire.  Her 
face  was  white  and  when  she  saw  Audrey  she  came  a 
step  towards  her. 

"The  storm,"  she  gasped.     "Oh,  the  storm!" 

Audrey  stood  trembling  in  the  doorway.  The  black 
day,  the  storm,  the  mystery!  They  all  seemed  as 
one,  hovering  about  her. 

"The  picture,"  she  cried.  "The  picture  in  the 
tower  of  the  gold-haired  boy.  Who  is  he,  Tante 
Greta,  who  is  he?" 


In  the  Tower  197 

Greta  Essen  started  back,  her  hand  at  her  throat. 
Sudden  color  leaped  to  her  face,  her  lips  twisted 
piteously. 

"It  is  the  picture  of  my  brother,"  she  whispered. 
"It  is  Rudolph !" 


CHAPTER  1 6 
Sorrow 

A  MOTOR  boat  made  its  way  across  the  bay  undaunt- 
ed by  the  storm,  though  at  times  it  almost  disap- 
peared in  the  grey  mountains  of  waves.  It  reached 
shore  at  last  and  Eugene  turned  laughingly  to  the 
old  sailor  who  had  brought  him  across.  "You  do 
have  storms,  don't  you;  somehow  I  always  think  of 
the  waters  around  here  as  calm  as  a  June  night.'* 
He  spoke  Swedish  haltingly  and  the  sailor  nodded. 
"When  it  storms,  it  comes  like  all  creation,"  he  an- 
swered. 

"I'll  be  ready  to  go  back  later,  I  can't  tell  just 
when.  Where  will  you  stay?" 

"I'll  have  a  bite  and  a  chat  with  old  Jan  Neilson, 
sir.  Hjalmar  from  the  castle  is  there  generally  of 
a  Friday." 

Eugene  hesitated  a  minute  as  he  turned  away,  then 
he  looked  back. 

"Ask  Hjalmar  to  come  to  Fru  Carlson's  cottage, 
if  he  is  there,  will  you?"  he  said. 

"Yes,  sir." 

Eugene  made  his  way  across  the  tumbled  stone 
198 


Sorrow  199 

and  slimy  seaweed  in  front  of  the  Carlson's  cottage. 
His  face  was  drawn  and  his  lips  were  closed  in  a 
way  that  showed  him  to  be  under  a  great  tension. 
He  knocked  sharply  at  the  door  and  it  was  opened 
immediately  by  Fru  Carlson  who  had  seen  him  com- 
ing. Eugene  removed  his  cap  and  spoke  at  once  and 
to  the  point: 

"Fru  Carlson,  I  have  come  to  see  you  about  some- 
thing that  is  of  the  greatest  importance  both  to  you 
and  to  me.  May  I  see  you  alone?" 

"There  is  no  one  here,  sir.  The  children  are  out  in 
all  this  storm,  but  their  oldest  brother  has  gone  to 
fetch  them,  he  will  see  that  no  harm  comes  to  them." 
Fru  Carlson  spoke  slowly  and  quietly  but  her  face 
had  whitened. 

"Take  off  your  wet  cloak,  sir,  while  I  mend  the 
fire." 

"Thanks,  I  do  not  mind  it  but  it  is  dripping.  I'm 
sorry  for  your  floor."  She  took  the  cloak  from  him 
and  put  it  on  a  chair  which  she  drew  close  to  the  fire, 
then  she  stooped  mechanically  and  picked  up  little 
Thure's  doll,  Sophie,  which  lay  on  the  floor.  She  put 
it  on  the  mantle  piece,  then  she  took  Eugene's  coat 
from  him  and  hung  it  on  a  nail  behind  the  door. 
Nore  had  worn  his  oilskin  when  he  went  out.  His 
other  coat  hung  next  to  Eugene's  wet  one.  Suddenly 
she  buried  her  face  in  the  worn  garment  that  she  had 
patched  and  mended  so  many  times,  and  she  mads 
a  little  prayer  before  she  turned  away. 


2OO  Midsummer 

"Sit  down,  sir,"  she  motioned  him  to  a  chair,  but 
he  shook  his  head;  in  fact  he  seemed  hardly  to  have 
heard  her.  He  spoke  at  once : 

"They  told  me  in  the  village  of  Boo,  when  I 
asked  them,  that  you  speak  English." 

"Yes,  sir,  I  taught  school  before  I  was  married," 
she  answered  him,  quietly. 

"Fru  Carlson,  they  told  me  also  in  the  village 
that  you  are  a  good  woman.  I  have  only  to  see  your 
face  to  know  that  it  is  so.  I  did  not  discuss  you  with 
the  people  at  Boo  except  to  find  out  if  you  spoke 
English.  No  one  knows  why  I  am  here,  unless  per- 
haps you  know  yourself." 

"What  do  you  mean,  sir,  how  should  I  know?" 

"I  am  a  Russian  and  I  had  a  sister.  Does  that 
mean  anything  to  you !"  Her  face  turned  white  but 
she  answered  him  quite  simply: 

"Are  you  then  the  man  who  spoke  to  Nore  at 
Hasslebacken?" 

"Yes,  Oh  poor  woman  this  is  sad  enough  for  you ; 
let  us  come  at  once  to  the  point.  My  sister,  Magda, 
married  the  young  Count  Rudolph  Essen.  This  boy, 
Nore,  I  believe  to  be  her  son.  I  only  knew  by  chance, 
or  let  us  say,  by  the  answer  to  a  prayer,  yes,  that  is 
nearer  the  truth,  that  Magda  had  a  son."  He 
touched  his  handkerchief  to  his  forehead  and  Fru 
Carlson  spoke  then. 

"Sit  down,  sir,  we  can  talk  easier  sitting."  She 
glanced  out  at  the  grey  storm-swept  beach,  then  sud- 


Sorrow  20 1 

denly  she  buried  her  face  in  her  hands.  Eugene  sac 
down  opposite  her  and  looked  away  at  the  bleakness 
and  rain.  Her  silent  grief  had  answered  him.  There 
was  no  need  for  words.  Then  she  raised  her  head 
and  looked  at  him.  uYes,  Nore  is  your  sister's  son," 
she  said. 

Eugene  spoke  eagerly.  "Shall  I  tell  you  what  I 
know  and  then  will  you  tell  me?"  he  asked.  She 
nodded. 

uYou  know  that  I  was  turned  out  of  the  castle  on 
the  rocks,  and  that  Rudolph  went  with  me. 

"I  left  Rudolph  in  Moscow  after  we  came  together 
to  Russia.  He  had  a  little  money  and  I  intended  to 
help  him  all  I  could  for  I  knew  that  he  had  a  splen- 
did voice  and  I  hoped  great  things  for  his  future. 

"When  the  letter  reached  me,  telling  of  his  mar- 
riage with  my  sister,  I  was  in  Africa.  I  rejoiced  that 
the  two  people  I  cared  most  for  were  so  united.  I 
was  doing  my  service  in  the  army.  There  was  a  native 
attack,  I  was  shut  off  from  all  communication  and 
when  I  returned  I  found  that  they  both  had  died  of 
cholera."  Eugene  was  silent  a  minute,  then  he  went 
on: 

"Lonely  years  followed  for  me.  So  often  I  have 
said  to  myself,  'If  only  there  had  been  a  son,  a  little 
nephew  for  me.'  It  was  last  April  that  I  first  heard 
from  an  unexpected  source  that  there  had  been  a 
child.  I  found  that  they  had  stayed  with  an  old 
woman,  a  relative  of  a  servant  of  ours,  before  they 


2O2  Midsummer 

had  been  stricken.  For  years  she  has  been  away  in 
Spain  with  her  sister  who  has  an  inn  there.  When 
I  heard  that  she  had  returned  I  went  to  see  her,  hop- 
ing for  some  last  word,  some  message  from  them. 
Then  she  told  me  that  there  had  been  a  little  baby 
son  and  that  a  Swede  had  come  and  taken  him  away. 
He  had  been  with  Rudolph  at  the  time  of  his  death 
and  he  told  the  woman  that  the  young  count  had 
wished  him  to  take  the  child  to  Sweden.  She  did  not 
know  the  man's  name,  in  fact  she  was  so  deaf  and 
old  I  could  not  get  anything  from  her  but  the  one 
fact. 

"I  came  to  Sweden  and  it  was  easy  enough  to  find 
out  in  Stockholm,  without  really  asking  directly,  that 
there  was  no  son  of  the  young  Count  Rudolph  at 
the  castle  on  the  rocks.  Then  I  watched,  hoping 
somehow  to  find  out  something,  wondering  what  was 
best  to  do.  One  night  at  midsummer  I  saw  Nore, 
you  know  the  rest.  Of  course  it  was  Rudolph's  face, 
the  same  eyes — and  smile !"  He  sat  silently  as  the 
woman  told  her  story. 

"It  was  midsummer  time,  fifteen  years  ago,  Marta 
was  just  a  year  old.  Knut  had  been  on  a  fishing  cruise 
to  Russia,  I  knew  the  boat  was  due  and  I  felt  sure 
he  would  come  out  that  night  if  there  was  any  way 
to  come.  It  was  nearly  midnight  when  I  heard 
voices.  I  looked  through  the  window  and  saw  that 
a  sail  boat  had  anchored  out  in  the  bay." 

"You  lived  here,   then,   in  this  cottage?"   asked 


Sorrow  203 

Eugene.  She  nodded  but  seemed  able  then  only  to 
speak  of  that  midsummer  night.  uTwo  men  waded 
in  and  came  up  to  the  cottage,  Knut  carrying  some- 
thing in  his  arms,  and  Hjalmar  from  the  castle.  It 
was  Nore,  the  little  baby  Nore."  Her  voice  broke  as 
she  said  this.  "Then  Knut  told  me  all  and  bade  me 
say  I  would  keep  still  about  it  all.  In  good  time  we 
can  tell  them,  proud,  cold-hearted  people  that  they 
are.  Now  they  would  only  cast  him  out,  they  would 
never  believe  us;  as  the  count  did  to  the  father,  so 
he  will  do  to  the  son.  So  the  years  went  by — and 
Nore,  Oh  you  can  never  know — Nore  is  the  light 
of  our  hearts,  the  light  of  my  life. 

"Knut  died  and  I  promised  him  that  when  Nore 
was  eighteen  I  would  tell  them  all.  And  I  should  have 
kept  my  word,  I  should  have  told  any  way,  for  my 
dream  is  that  he  shall  be  able  to  see  the  world  and 
learn  to  do  and  be  all  that  he  would  wish."  She 
stood  up  and  walked  over  to  a  chest  in  the  far  corner, 
opened  a  drawer  and  took  out  something.  She  came 
back  and  stood  beside  Eugene  and  he  rose  to  his  feet 
as  she  handed  him  a  photograph.  It  was  the  pic- 
ture of  a  young  beautiful  Russian  girl  so  like  Eugene 
that  instinctively  they  both  smiled,  though  the  man 
bit  his  lips  to  still  their  trembling. 

"The  young  count  told  Knut  that  his  sister  Greta 
had  a  picture  like  this  that  he  had  given  her.  He 
said  we  might  need  it  to  make  them  believe.  When 
you  are  ready  to  speak,  I  will  give  you  this." 


204  Midsummer 

Someone  opened  the  door  without  knocking  and 
stood,  dripping  with  rain,  staring  at  them.  It  was 
Hjalmar. 

uHe  knows !  Oh  Hjalmar,  this  is  Nore's  uncle,  the 
brother  of  the  wife  of  young  Count  Rudolph." 

"Is  he  going  to  tell  now?"  asked  Hjalmar  hoarse- 

]y- 

"I  will  wait  a  few  days.  Something  tells  me  to 
wait,"  answered  Eugene. 

"Hjalmar  would  have  told  long  ago,  but  he  felt 
that  I  knew  best.  He  has  always  said  that  I  was  the 
one  to  tell  them,"  half  whispered  Fru  Carlson. 

"Perhaps  you  are  the  one,  something  tells  me  to 
wait — " 

Voices  and  laughter,  the  children  running  across 
the  beach  and  into  the  cottage  door.  Marta,  Thure, 
Karl  and  Nore,  all  in  their  oilskin  coats,  all  happy 
and  smiling,  loving  the  storm,  loving  each  other. 
Fru  Carlson  stood  still  as  Nore  came  up  to  her.  He 
saw  Eugene  at  once  and  held  out  his  hand,  smiling 
shyly.  "You  are  kind  to  come  and  see  us,  sir."  Then 
he  looked  at  his  mother's  drawn  face.  "Is  something 
wrong,  mother?"  She  looked  up  at  him  smiling  a 
little  piteously.  "Just  news  that  I  didn't  expect.  It's 
going  to  be  all  right  dear,  it  has  come  sooner  than  I 
thought.  I  have  been  wrong,  it  should  have  come 
before!" 

Nore  looked  a  little  haughtily  at  Eugene.  "I  am 
sorry  that  anyone  should  have  made  you  unhappy 


Sorrow  205 

when  I  wasn't  here,"  he  said  in  his  boyish  perplexed 
sort  of  way.  Eugene  felt  a  great  pride  leap  up  in 
his  heart  as  Nore  spoke. 

"It  will  be  all  right,"  he  said,  repeating  the  moth- 
er's words.  Then  with  Hjalmar,  he  stepped  out  into 
the  storm. 


CHAPTER  17 
About  Rudolph 

ONE,  two,  three,  four,  five!  The  old  clock  down- 
stairs in  the  castle  hall  boomed  out  the  hour.  Audrey 
shivered  as  she  ran  lightly  past  it.  Her  shiver 
was  not  of  fear,  she  was  really  cold.  Castles  by  the 
sea  are  chilly  places,  early  in  the  morning,  even  in 
summer. 

Audrey  had  crept  way  down  to  the  kitchen  to  find 
Smorgas,  whose  forlorn  leanness  had  developed  into 
a  cozy  plumpness.  She  had  discovered  him  by  the 
fire  and  had  tucked  him  under  her  arm  and  started 
upstairs  with  him.  She  was  dressed  in  her  dark  sail- 
or suit  and  looked  as  wide  awake  as  possible.  In  fact 
she  was  so  excited  that  she  had  jumped  out  of  bed 
as  soon  as  she  woke  up. 

It  was  the  day  of  the  party,  yesterday  had  been 
the  storm — the  picture — Tante  Greta !  Audrey  had 
stood  at  her  window  for  some  time  after  she  was 
dressed,  looking  off  at  the  still  color-touched  bay, 
so  quiet,  so  unlike  the  grey  wildness  of  the  day  be- 
fore. She  went  over  in  her  mind  the  talk  they  had 
had,  she  and  Sven,  with  Tante  Greta,  the  evening 

206 


About  Rudolph  207 

before.  They  had  drawn  the  curtains  close  to  keep 
out  the  storm,  had  put  fresh  logs  on  the  fire  and 
she  and  Tante  Greta  had  sat  close  together,  with 
Sven  opposite  them.  She  had  felt  quite  like  a  very 
little  girl,  though  she  couldn't  have  told  why.  It  had 
been  good  to  feel  Tante  Greta's  protecting  hand  on 
her  shoulder.  She  had  been  very  pale  but  there  was 
something  different  in  her  voice,  relief  at  speaking 
out  all  she  had  to  tell  them,  perhaps  relief  in  speak- 
ing to  them  of  that  young  brother  she  had  so  loved, 
Rudolph. 

Yes,  he  had  been  just  like  the  painting.  They  had 
acted  a  little  play  and  fie  had  been  the  young  Viking 
prince.  Yes,  they  had  been  happy  beyond  words.  As 
children,  they  had  played  about  the  rocks,  had  fished 
for  krefter,  had  sailed  and  picnicked.  She  was  older 
than  the  other  two — 

"But,  Tante  Greta — I  don't  know  that  I  believe 
it.  Father  never  told  us — why,  how  can  it  be,  what's 
the  reason.  We  had  an  uncle  and  we  never  knew 


it." 


Sven  stood  facing  his  aunt,  he  put  his  hands  in  his 
pockets  and  looked  at  her  squarely.  He  was  frown- 
ing and  puzzled  and  his  voice  was  full  of  indigna- 
tion. Sven  was  roused. 

"It's  all  hard  indeed  to  tell,  Sven — your  grand- 
father—" 

"Well — what  of  him?"  Sven  spoke  roughly  and 
Audrey  looked  up,  protestingly. 


2o8  Midsummer 

"Sven!"  she  warned.  "What  a  tone  to  use,  can't 
you  be  patient?  Tante  Greta  is  telling  us!" 

"Yes,  you  must  listen,  Sven.  I  will  do  the  best  I 
can.  Words  come  slowly.  I  have  seen  none  of  our 
cousins  in  the  north  for  years,  and  except  to  Hjal- 
mar,  I  have  not  spoken  of  Rudolph  in  so  long." 
Her  voice  trembled  slightly  as  she  spoke  but  she 
steadied  it  and  went  on. 

"Oh,  children,"  she  said,  clasping  her  hands  tight- 
ly together  in  her  lap.  "It  will  be  so  hard  to  make 
you  understand.  You  are  so  different,  you  are  so 
full  of  your  own  country.  You  never  knew  your 
grandfather  when  he  was  younger,  but  he  was  a  man 
of  iron  will,  a  man  of  strong  temper." 

"He  still  is,"  put  in  Sven,  sitting  down  on  the  edge 
of  the  sofa  opposite  his  aunt  and  frowning  in  the 
same  perplexed  way. 

"Rudolph  always  loved  the  sea  and  used  to  spend 
much  of  his  time  sailing  and  sometimes  he  would  go 
off  on  the  fishing  smacks.  Knut  Carlson,  the  father 
of  Nore,  used  often  to  take  him.  Twice,  as  quite 
a  young  lad  he  went  to  Russia  with  him  on  a  fishing 
cruise.  We  didn't  tell  father  he  had  gone,  for  father 
— well,  father  has  always  hated  the  very  name  of 
Russia.  Finally  Rudolph  was  sent  to  the  Naval 
Academy.  He  liked  the  life  there  in  the  navy  yard 
near  Stockholm  and  used  to  bring" his  comrades  here 
for  a  frolic  once  in  a  while !  But  the  school  part  of 
it  was  tedious  to  him.  He  was  always  restless." 


About  Rudolph  209 

Greta  sighed  deeply  as  she  spoke.  "He  wanted  to 
give  up  the  navy.  It's  hard  to  make  you  under- 
stand but  he  seemed  to  be  born  restless.  His  was 
as  sweet  a  nature  as  I've  ever  seen,  yet  he  and  your 
grandfather  were  always  at  sword's  points.  Your 
grandfather  had  always  disliked  the  fishing  cruises, 
though  indeed  there  was  no  harm  in  them.  On  the 
contrary  it  was  a  healthy  thing  for  a  lad  of  fifteen 
to  sail  away  with  Knut  Carlson. 

"They  quarrelled  more  and  more,  my  father  and 
Rudolph,  though  if  only  my  father  could  have  been 
more  patient!"  She  sighed  heavily  as  she  spoke. 
Then  she  went  on,  speaking  nervously,  yet  hesitat- 
ing now  and  then  as  though  unable  to  find  the  words 
in  English  to  express  herself. 

"Rudolph  became  fascinated  by  Russia  but  was 
wise  enough  to  say  little  about  it  here  at  the  castle, 
for  I  tell  you,  children,  I  have  never  known  anything 
quite  like  your  grandfather's  unreasoning  hatred  of 
Russia.  He  had  fed  it  all  his  life,  this  hatred.  He 
had  been  taught  to  hate  it;  his  ancestors  had  fought, 
only  to  lose  Finland.  The  Essens  are  hard  haters 
and  hard  fighters  but  they  are  poor  losers."  Tante 
Greta  looked  into  the  fire  without  speaking  for  a  few 
moments  and  then  she  went  on: 

"It  is  perhaps  so  with  the  whole  country.  We  are 
so  proud,  even  the  little  naval  cadets  wear  a  button 
on  their  coats  that  is  covered  by  a  lapel.  They  cannot 
let  the  button  show  until  the  very  remote,  and  I 


2io  Midsummer 

should  say,  impossible  day,  when  Finland  is  our's 
again." 

"I  know,"  put  in  Sven.     "Bjorn  told  me." 
'There  isn't  so  very  much  more  to  tell,  dears.     If 
only  I  could  forget  it  instead  of  bringing  it  all  back!" 
She  put  her  hands  over  her  eyes,  but  when  she  spoke 
again,  it  was  quite  steadily: 

"Rudolph  left  the  navy  and  travelled  about  as  he 
liked.  For  a  time  father  gave  him  an  allowance, 
thinking  he  would  settle,  but  he  never  got  over  his 
disappointment  about  Rudolph's  leaving,  his  tiring 
of  the  navy.  Father  never  understood  him.  If 
Rudolph  had  lived,  if  there  had  not  been  so  bitter 
a  quarrel,  I  believe  he  would  have  found  his  wings. 
I  believe  that  some  great  talent  was  his  and  that  he 
would  have  come  into  his  own.  One  day  there  was 
a  quarrel  here,  Rudolph  had  brought  a  Russian 
friend  here,  someone  he  had  met  on  the  continent. 
Your  grandfather  in  one  of  his  tempers,  when  he 
found  out  the  man's  nationality,  ordered  him  to  leave 
at  once.  That  was  a  terrible  thing  to  do  to  a  guest, 
but  I  have  told  you  that  your  grandfather  was  un- 
reasoning in  his  hatred  for  the  Russians.  Rudolph's 
temper  could  almost  match  my  father's.  He,  too, 
left  the  castle  with  his  friend  that  same  day,  in  spite 
of  all  my  pleading  with  him  to  stay.  He  never  came 
back."  Greta  sobbed  quietly  for  a  moment  and  Aud- 
rey, who  couldn't  find  her  handkerchief,  wiped  her 
eyes  on  a  corner  of  Tante  Greta's  dress. 


About  Rudolph  211 

uWe  heard  soon  after  that  he  had  married  a  Rus- 
sian girl,  the  sister  of  the  artist  friend  and  then — 
his  father  vowed  that  never  again  should  he  set  foot 
in  the  castle.  He  wrote  him  to  this  effect,  but 
whether  or  not  he  ever  received  the  letter  I  do  not 
know.  He  died  within  a  year,  both  he  and  his  wife, 
of  the  cholera.  That  is  all.  There  is  nothing  more 
to  tell.  Your  grandfather  is  a  sad  old  man,  do  not 
judge  him  too  harshly.  I've  often  felt,  especially 
since  you  happy,  bright  children  have  come,  that 
father  grieves  more  than  we  know,  more  than  we 
have  realized, — that  he  deeply  regrets  it  all!" 

Audrey  stood  up  and  walked  about  the  room. 
She  was  trembling  and  twice  she  started  to  speak, 
to  say  the  word.  "The  picture  upstairs,  it  is 
Rudolph,  but  don't  you  see  that  it  is  just  like  Nore. 
Oh,  can  you  not  see  that  it  is  almost  Nore,  don't  you 
know  that  there  is  something  more  to  tell?  The 
artist  friend  is  here,  within  an  hour's  sail  at  Boo!" 

She  did  not  say  the  words,  she  only  thought  them, 
she  walked  back  and  forth  from  the  window  to  the 
door,  her  hands  twisted  together.  The  little  care- 
less Audrey  had  somehow  gone,  not  entirely,  but  just 
the  first  of  growing  up  had  come.  Things  would 
never  be  quite  the  same  again. 

"If  there  had  been  a  village  here,  of  course  you 
would  have  known  before  this,  but  we  are  so  far 
from  everything.  We  see  none  of  the  old  friends. 
Oh,  I  haven't  cared,  I  haven't  wanted  to  care  about 


212  Midsummer 

anything  until  you  came.  My  eyes  have  failed  me 
so  the  last  few  years  and  there  has  been  a  tired  feel- 
ing as  though  nothing  mattered.  Perhaps  if  there 
had  been  a  village  I  might  have  forgotten  myself  in 
looking  after  the  people.  But  we  are  just  a  strange 
old  castle,  all  alone." 

Sven  stood  up  and  put  his  hand  on  his  aunt's 
shoulder.  He  spoke  gently  but  slowly  and  perplex- 
edly. uWhat  a  story,  it's  almost  stupid!" 

"Sven!"  exclaimed  Audrey  reproachfully. 

uWhy  didn't  we  know,  any  way,  why  in  time  didn't 
father  tell  us  ?  What  was  the  use  of  making  such  a 
mystery  of  it  all?" 

Greta  put  her  hands  out  with  a  hopeless  sort  of 
gesture. 

"Your  grandfather  again.  He  made  your  father 
promise  that  he  would  never  speak  of  Rudolph,  it 
was  an  obsession  with  him.  I  think  he  was  hardly 
responsible.  We  had  just  heard  of  Rudolph's  death 
and  I  do  not  suppose  we  can  ever  know  what  your 
grandfather  must  have  suffered.  He  wanted  to  for- 
get that  there  had  ever  been  a  Rudolph,  but  that 
he  could  not  do.  Your  father  was  a  stranger  though 
he  was  vouched  for  by  mutual  friends  on  the  contin- 
ent. He  had  heard  of  the  young  Count  Rudolph, 
of  course,  Rudolph  who  had  been  banished  from  his 
father's  house,  who  had  married  in  Russia  and  had 
died  there.  It  was  nothing  more  to  your  father  than 
a  sad,  fantastic  story,  except  that  he  grieved  for  Sig- 


About  Rudolph  213 

ried  in  her  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  that  brother  she 
had  so  loved.  Your  father  promised  to  keep  silent 
always  about  Rudolph.  You  see,  there  was  no 
reason  why  he  should  not.  He  wanted  Sigried,  that 
was  all,  wanted  her  with  all  his  heart.  I  think  he 
wanted  most  of  all  to  take  her  away.  He  wanted 
her  to  forget  it  all,  if  she  could.  He  thought  father 
a  strange  man  and,  as  I  say,  he  promised  him  never 
to  speak  of  Rudolph.  There  was  no  reason  why  he 
should  not,  we  were  nothing  to  him,  nothing  at  all. 
I  know  that  he  thought  us  strange,  strange  people. 
He  only  wanted  Sigried.  He  took  her  away  and 
there  has  been  only  sadness  and  silence,  since !" 
Greta  spoke  a  little  bitterly,  and  the  next  moment 
put  her  hand  out  to  the  two  who  had  come  close  to 
her.  "Forgive  me,"  she  whispered.  "I  know  in- 
deed that  your  father  is  an  honorable  man,  a  fine 
man.  I  liked  just  the  glimpse  I  had  of  him."  Sha 
sat  silently,  gazing  into  the  fire  as  though  lost  in 
long  ago  memories. 

Audrey  knelt  down  and  put  her  arms  around  her 
and  said  tremulously: 

"Dear  Tante  Greta,  you  are  never  to  feel  alone 
again.  I'm  going  to  be  over  here  so  much  that  you'll 
be  sorry  you  have  such  a  troublesome  niece  who  in- 
vites herself  to  visit  so  often!" 

Sven  cleared  his  throat.  "Yes,  and  some  day 
you're  coming  over  to  have  one  fine  old  time  in  'Lit- 
tle Old  New  York,'  Tante  Greta.  It's  my  opinion 


214  Midsummer 

you're  one  brick,"  and  to  his  aunt's  astonishment 
he  leaned  over  and  gave  her  an  awkward  kiss. 

Audrey  thought  it  all  over  the  next  morning. 
When  once  she  had  wakened  there  had  been  nothing 
to  do  but  get  up  at  once  and  for  a  long  time  she  had 
stood  there  at  the  window,  her  arms  on  the  sill.  It 
was  all  so  strange;  yesterday,  the  days  before,  all 
seemed  like  a  dream.  The  tower,  the  picture !  Over 
and  over  the  events  of  the  day  before  went  through 
her  mind.  The  talk  with  Tante  Greta  had  been  the 
strangest  time  of  all!  Rudolph!  The  old  days  as 
Tante  Greta  spoke  of  them.  How  near  she  had 
made  them  seem!  Eugene,  could  it  be  he  who  was 
the  artist  friend,  what  did  he  mean? — Nore — was 
Nore  their  cousin,  was  such  a  thing  even  to  be  imag- 
ined! Nore,  the  child  of  Eugene's  sister!  Her 
quick  mind  had  leaped  from  one  thought  to  another 
as  she  stood  there  at  the  castle  window  in  the  early 
morning. 

Suddenly  she  realized  with  a  start  that  it  was  the 
day  of  the  party.  There  had  been  so  much  else  to 
think  about  in  the  last  hours  that  the  fascination  of 
the  party  thought  had  waned  for  the  time  being. 

The  party!  What  joy!  Surely  somehow  the  sun 
had  come  to  stay!  The  storm  had  gone,  but  the 
mystery  was  still  there. 

The  tower!  She  would  have  no  fear  of  it  now 
in  the  sunshine.  The  tableaux!  She  would  go  up 
to  the  tower  and  look  through  the  things  before  any- 


About  Rudolph  215 

one  was  up.  A  splendid  idea !  It  would  be  a  little 
lonely  to  go  alone,  she  would  find  Smorgas! 

The  stairs  were  steep  and  the  way  seemed  long. 

"How  plump  you  are  now,  Smorgas.  Margot  has 
given  you  cream  every  day,  no  wonder  you  are  such 
a  fine  strong  cat  instead  of  just  a  scrawny  one,"  she 
said,  patting  the  grey  head  as  she  started  up  the 
tower  steps. 

It  was  a  pleasant  enough  room  in  the  early  sun- 
light with  no  storm  raging  about  its  windows.  Aud- 
rey rummaged  to  her  heart's  content  and  found  in 
the  old  trunks  so  many  things  that  she  wanted.  "Just 
what  we'll  need  for  the  tableaux!"  she  exclaimed, 
holding  up  a  red  velvet  gown  with  a  long  train.  "It 
will  be  such  fun  making  up  the  tableaux,  I'll  go  over 
and  see  Val  about  them  after  breakfast.  You're  go- 
ing to  be  in  one  of  them,  Smorgas  darling."  She  gave 
the  cat  a  hug,  dropped  him  down  and  turned  her  at- 
tention to  a  smaller,  black  trunk  that  stood  in  one 
corner  away  from  the  rest.  Smorgas  peered  curi- 
ously about  for  a  few  moments;  then  curled  up  in  a 
corner  by  the  window  to  finish  his  interrupted  sleep 

The  black  trunk  opened  easily.  Audrey  drew  out 
an  embroidered  counterpane  and  then  gave  a  quick 
exclamation.  What  was  it?  Could  it  be?  Yes! 
There  they  were,  the  long  mantle,  the  gold  jewelled 
studded  sword,  the  helmet,  the  tunic.  It  was  the 
dress  of  the  young  Viking  prince,  the  dress  that  the 
boy  Rudolph,  the  handsome,  careless,  sweet-natured 


2i6  Midsummer 

Rudolph  had  worn  when  his  portrait  was  painted. 
A  picture  that  his  sad-tempered  father  had  put  from 
his  sight,  alone  there  in  the  tower  room. 

Suddenly  as  she  knelt  there  in  the  early  morning 
with  the  birds  singing  joyously  outside,  the  idea  came 
to  her.  Nore — the  picture,  the  tableaux !  It  was 
a  daring  idea !  She  would  say  nothing,  no  one  must 
know  until  the  time.  Nore  should  wear  the  Viking 
prince's  dress.  Nore  in  the  tableux  would  be  the 
picture!  Her  grandfather, — would  she  dare?  What 
would  he  say  or  do?  She  would  do  it  in  spite  of 
any  fears  that  might  come  to  her.  That  evening 
Nore  should  be  the  picture  in  the  tower! 


CHAPTER  1 8 

Anticipation 

"TiiE  Bergstroms,  three  of  them,  the  nice  Gustafs- 
son  boys  who  have  the  pony,  that  makes  five,  Mar- 
garita Mamburg,  the  two  Thorburgs,  the  Wican- 
ders,  Oh,  I'm  so  glad  that  Ingeborg  is  going  to  spend 
the  night  with  me, — you  Zanders,  the  Carlsons  and 
Domski."  Audrey  bit  the  end  of  her  pencil  after 
speaking  and  looked  across  at  Valfried.  The  two 
girls  were  up  in  the  tower  room.  All  about  them 
were  the  spoils  from  the  trunks,  faded  velvet  hang- 
ings, cast-off  ball  dresses,  old,  twisted,  pewter  candle 
sticks,  all  kinds  of  discarded  long-forgotten  articles. 

"You  know  you  are  funny,  Audrey,  quite  the  odd- 
est girl  I've  ever  known.  Do  you  mean  you  have 
asked  the  Russian  servant  boy  to  come  to  your 
party?"  Valfried  threw  back  her  head  and  laughed 
but  quite  good-naturedly.  "And  the  Carlsons ! 
They  will  be  frightened  out  of  their  wits,  coming 
here  to  the  castle  on  the  rocks!  You  are  a  dear, 
though,  and  I  love  you."  She  gave  Audrey  a  sudden 
hug  as  she  spoke. 

Audrey's  only  answer  was  a  smile  and  the  two 
217 


2 1 8  Midsummer 

girls  were  soon  deep   in  their  plans   for   the   eve- 
ning. 

"Don't  you  think  it  will  be  best  to  dance  for 
awhile  at  first?  Tante  Greta  knows  the  clap  dansa 
and  several  of  the  others.  The  piano  is  a  little  off 
time  but  it's  not  bad  and  Hjalmar  is  going  to  play 
his  harmonium  too.  It's  just  what  we  want,  isn't  it?" 

"Yes,  splendid,  I'd  rather  dance  to  a  harmonium 
than  anything  else,"  answered  her  friend,  holding  up 
a  sea-green  satin  skirt  and  gazing  at  it  critically. 

"It's  working  out  so  well.  Grandfather  has  act- 
ually promised  to  appear.  It  seems  almost  like  a 
miracle,  for  he  declared  he  wouldn't  be  seen  and  I 
just  felt  I  didn't  want  to  have  the  party  at  all.  I 
was  so  unhappy  I  cried.  Tante  Greta  told  him  and 
he  said  finally  he  would  come  in  to  see  the  tableaux. 
Val,  I'm  nervous  about  them,  why  we  haven't  even 
thought  out  what  we're  going  to  have.  I  thought 
we  could  sort  of  make  up  something  at  the  last 
minute,  I've  one  or  two  ideas  but  I  don't  know  if 
they're  good." 

"Where  is  Sven?" 

"Gone  for  the  cake.  I  was  so  afraid  something 
would  happen,  that  Fru  Wallman  would  forget  to 
send  it,  it's  worried  me  a  good  deal.  Sven  was  hang- 
ing around,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  so  I  sent  him 
off  to  Boo — see  Val,  there  are  three  whole  ball 
dresses,  then  there  is  this  uniform.  It  belonged  to 
grandfather's  uncle,  I  believe  Bjorn  could  wear  it. 


Anticipation  219 

Wouldn't  it  be  fun  to  have  a  romantic  tableaux? 
I've  thought  of  something."  Audrey  began  to  tell 
of  her  inspiration.  Valfried  burst  into  shrieks  of 
laughter. 

"Audrey,  you  are  so  funny,  fancy  Bjorn  in  a  ro- 
mantic tableaux!" 

They  both  laughed  merrily,  Audrey  dancing  about 
the  little  room,  singing  at  the  top  of  her  voice,  "I'm 
so  excited,  I'm  so  excited  I" 

"A  party  at  the  castle  on  the  rocks !  I  should  think 
you  would  be  excited,"  answered  Valfried,  but  Aud- 
rey knew  that  it  was  not  just  the  thought  of  the  party 
that  made  this  day  seem  different  from  any  other. 

"The  cake's  here,  what  do  you  want  me  to  do 
about  the  decoration?  Audrey,  come  on  down!" 
Sven's  voice  called  up  from  below. 

"Is  it  all  right,  did  you  take  it  to  Margot?"  his 
sister  called  down  anxiously. 

"How  should  I  know?  I  didn't  sample  it  on  the 
way,  it's  big  enough  and  heavy  enough,"  Sven  called 
back. 

The  two  girls  ran  quickly  down  the  tower  stairs, 
down,  down,  until  they  came  to  the  kitchen  and  the 
cake.  It  was  a  beauty  and  no  mistake !  It  was  the 
creamiest,  most  delicious-looking  cake  ever  seen, 
covered  as  it  was  with  spun  sugar,  crowned  as 
it  was  with  a  small  Swedish  and  a  small  American 
flag. 

"Where  on  earth  did  she  get  our  flag,  such  a  dear 


22O  Midsummer 

little  baby  one.  Doesn't  it  look  wonderful,  what  a 
surprise  for  everyone !"  exclaimed  Audrey. 

"Yes,"  answered  Sven,  eyeing  the  cake  with  ad- 
miration, having  followed  the  girls  to  the  kitchen. 
"I  told  Fru  Wallman  I  knew  you'd  be  ever  so 
pleased  with  the  flags!"  Sven  smiled  at  Margot 
who  was  coming  out  of  the  pantry  and  she  gave  him 
a  handful  of  pepparkarkor  which  he  put  in  his 
pockets.  Meals  were  very  informal  that  day,  the 
old  count's  being  taken  to  him  as  usual,  on  a  tray 
and  the  rest  of  the  family  taking  a  bite  when  it 
seemed  most  convenient.  Tante  Greta  had  thought 
this  an  odd  way  of  doing  but  Audrey  had  told  her 
it  was  the  way  they  always  did  when  they  had 
parties  in  America,  so  she  had  consented  smilingly. 

Valfried  had  to  run  home  after  awhile,  promising 
to  come  back  after  lunch  to  help  with  the  decora- 
tions. Audrey  waved  her  good-bye  from  the  rocks 
where  she  had  come  for  a  breath  of  air,  then  ran  on 
in  to  the  entrance  hall.  Her  aunt  came  towards  her. 

"We're  going  to  have  some  surprises  tonight, 
Tante  Greta,"  Audrey  exclaimed  as  she  came  up  to 
her. 

"I  know  a  surprise,  too,"  answered  Greta,  smiling. 
"I  know  quite  a  wonderful  surprise !" 

What  could  it  be,  Tante  Greta's  surprise?  Surely 
nothing  to  do  with  Eugene  and  Nore.  What  then? 
This  wonderful  surprise  that  Tante  Greta  knew 
about ! 


Anticipation  221 

The  day  passed  only  too  quickly.  It  was  a  long 
task,  trimming  the  great  hall  and  the  rooms  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  castle.  Sven  and  Bjorn  and  Nils 
Wicander  worked  hard. 

"I  say  Bjorn,  there's  Nore,  call  him  in — Nore, 
Nore,  come  on,  come  here,  look  up  this  way,  Nore !" 

Bjorn  and  Sven  called  with  all  their  might,  which 
was  not  necessary  for  Nore  heard  them  at  once.  He 
pulled  in  shore  and  ran  up  the  rocks,  and  up,  up  to 
the  castle  steps.  The  boys  had  come  out  for  a  mo- 
ment's rest  and  hailed  him  warmly. 

"Come  on  and  see  how  we're  getting  on  trimming 
up  this  old  prison.  Gee,  but  it  is  a  gloomy  hole," 
said  Sven,  rubbing  his  arm  which  he  had  severely 
knocked  against  the  side  of  the  fireplace  in  the  hall. 

Nore  hesitated  a  moment,  standing  there  on  the 
threshold  of  the  castle.  He  looked  somehow  tired 
and  puzzled,  as  though  he  had  worried  through  a 
long  night  of  unsolved  mystery.  His  mother  was 
suffering.  What  could  it  mean?  Nothing  else 
seemed  to  matter  until  he  knew  what  made  that  look 
of  misery,  almost  of  fear,  in  his  mother's  eyes. 

"Audrey  wants  to  see  you,"  Sven  told  him. 
"Come  in  and  I'll  call  her.  She  runs  down  to  the 
kitchen  every  once  in  awhile  to  ask  Margot  how 
things  are  getting  on  about  the  supper.  I  wish  she'd 
keep  away,  she  can't  manage  Margot  as  well  as  I 
do.  If  the  old  girl  gets  in  a  temper,  we're  dished 
as  far  as  supper  goes — here  Nils,  run  down  and  tell 


222  Midsummer 

Audrey  that  Nore  is  here.  I  want  to  get  this  dirt 
out  of  the  way  before  Tante  Greta  comes  down,  it's 
off  the  pine  branches."  Sven  raised  a  cloud  of  dust 
with  his  broom  and  Ingeborg  Wicander  gave  an  ex- 
clamation as  she  came  running  in,  her  bag  on  her 
arm. 

"Goodness,  Sven,  what  are  you  trying  to  do? 
Good  day  to  you,  Nore,  isn't  it  fine  after  the  storm?" 

Audrey  came  running  upstairs,  embraced  Ingeborg 
and  smiled  a  welcome  at  Nore.  At  a  glance  she  saw 
that  something  was  amiss  with  him  and  when  the 
others  were  busy  talking  and  planning  about  the 
greens,  she  motioned  him  to  one  side. 

"Nore,  I  want  you  to  do  something  for  me  to- 
night. Please  promise  that  you  will.  We  are  really 
friends,  you  and  I,  so  you  can't  refuse.  We  are  go- 
ing to  have  tableaux.  Bjorn  is  to  be  in  one  with  just 
girls,  so  you  needn't  feel  that  you'll  be — what  is  that 
long  word — conspicuous.  Listen,  Nore,  I  want  you 
to  dress  up  in  a  Viking  prince  dress.  I — I  can't  ex- 
plain, only  you'll  promise  won't  you  ?  Sven  has  the 
things  in  his  room,  will  you  go  and  try  them  on?" 

Nore  nodded  smiling.  "Yes,  Froken,  if  it  pleases 
you,"  he  answered  her.  There  was  a  listlessness 
about  his  tone. 

"What  is  it,  Nore?  Tell  me,  something  is 
wrong?"  Audrey  spoke  in  her  warm  impulsive  way 
and  Nore  answered  her  as  though  it  were  a  relief  to 
speak. 


Anticipation  223 

"It  is  my  mother,  Froken,  she  is  not  happy.  Some- 
thing has  happened,  I  cannot  know  any  sunlight  at 
all  when  my  mother  is  unhappy."  His  voice  trembled 
as  he  spoke  and  the  color  came  to  his  fair  face. 

"I'm  sorry,  Oh  you  know  I  am.  Nore,  things  are 
strange — Oh  I  don't  know  what  to  say,  but  do  you 
feel  as  I  do  that  something  is  going  to  happen — it 
may  be  a  very  happy  thing,  try  to  be  glad  today  if 
you  can,  try  hard,  will  you?" 

Nore  nodded,  trying  to  smile.  Sven  called  him 
and  he  followed  him  slowly  up  the  stairs. 

Ingeborg  and  Audrey  had  little  time  to  talk  up  in 
Audrey's  room,  there  was  too  much  to  do.  Inge- 
borg was  to  share  Audrey's  bed  that  night  and  the 
two  friends  were  looking  forward  to  a  long  chat  over 
the  whole  affair  after  everyone  had  gone. 

After  a  hasty  lunch  Audrey  went  in  search  of 
Hjalmar.  She  had  wondered  that  he  had  not  been 
around  in  the  morning,  offering  in  his  clumsy  good- 
natured  way  to  help,  but  she  had  not  seen  him  at  all. 
She  found  him  sitting  on  the  same  old,  overturned 
rowboat  where  she  had  first  tried  to  talk  to  him. 
He  sat  there  puffing  at  his  pipe.  Audrey  ran  up  to 
him  and  stood  looking  down  at  him  curiously.  She 
had  made  no  sound  with  her  white  sneakers  on  the 
firm,  damp  sand  and  when  she  spoke  to  him,  he 
jumped. 

"Hjalmar,  where  are  you,  aren't  you  coming  up 
to  see  how  gay  we  are?  The  boys  have  trimmed  the 


224  Midsummer 

halls.  Do  come — and,  Hjalmar,  you  told  me  the 
other  day  you'd  play  the  harmonium  for  the  dancing. 
Don't  you  think  you  and  Tante  Greta  could  practice 
together,  I'm  afraid  you'll  never  keep  in  time,  if  you 
don't." 

Hjalmar  rose  to  his  feet.  He  seemed  a  very  old 
man  indeed,  as  he  stood  there  in  the  strong  sunlight 
There  was  in  his  eyes  a  look,  what  was  it? 

"A  party,  glory  be,  a  party,"  he  said  heavily.  "I 
dunno  what  to  do,  I  dunno  what  to  say,  I  meant  to 
do  right  but  I  ain't.  Play  the  music  wid  Froken 
Greta?  Yes,  but  my  time's  all  right,  she's  the  one 
that  kind  of  dreams  while  she's  playing."  He  walked 
along  beside  Audrey,  across  the  beach,  but  in  spite 
of  all  her  chatter,  he  would  not  speak  again. 


CHAPTER  19 
The  Castle  Opens  Its  Doors 

"WELKOMMET,  welkommet,"  said  Tante  Greta  as 
she  shook  hands  with  the  guests,  standing  near  the 
fire  in  the  great  hall.  The  evening  had  turned  cold, 
though  it  was  clear  and  fine,  and  the  splendid  fire  of 
logs  was  a  welcome  sight  to  the  children,  all  of 
whom,  except  the  Zanders  and  Wicanders,  had  come 
by  boat. 

Tante  Greta  wore  her  soft  grey  dress  and  the 
pearls  that  she  almost  never  took  from  their  home 
in  the  old  bronze  jewel  case  that  stood  on  her  dress- 
ing table.  There  was  a  little  color  in  her  cheeks  and 
she  seemed  in  her  quiet  way  quite  as  excited  as 
Audrey. 

"I've  brought  my  new  doll.  I  thought  Thure 
Carlson  would  like  to  see  it.  She's  just  a  poor 
little  girl.  Her  house  hasn't  got  any  paint. 
Bjorn  rowed  me  over  there  one  day.  I  like  Thure," 
Astrid  told  Audrey  after  she  had  kissed  her  enthu- 
siastically. 

"Hush  dear,  they're  coming  and  here  is  Dom- 
ski,"  whispered  Audrey,  holding  out  both  hands  to 

225 


226  Midsummer 

Marta  Carlson  who  was  trying  not  to  look  as  fright- 
ened as  she  felt. 

They  had  all  come.  Marta,  the  big  sister,  Karl, 
very  conscious  of  his  new  shoes  and  bright  green  tic 
and  his  suit,  made  over  from  one  that  Nore  had  out- 
grown. 

Domski  too!  Not  shy  in  the  least!  Domski 
would  have  told  you  that  he  was  used  to  very  good 
society.  Had  he  not  been  abroad  with  his  master! 
Had  he  not  himself  helped  their  French  cook  to  pre- 
pare a  very  fine  dinner  for  people  who  were  really 
great!  Artists,  poets,  musicians! 

The  fun  began  at  once,  for  they  started  dancing 
right  away.  The  clap  dansa,  what  fun  it  was !  The 
Hambo  Polka  !  The  Franchise  which  is  like  our  lan- 
cers. They  danced  so  long  that  supper  was  later 
than  Audrey  had  intended.  It  was  served  in  the 
great  dining  room  which  they  seldom  used  and  they 
all  marched  through  the  long  rooms,  while  Tante 
Greta  played  a  martial  air  on  the  piano,  Hjalmar 
coming  in,  always  a  little  behind,  with  the  harmon- 
ium. 

One  of  the  surprises  was  pulling  snappers  in 
which  were  caps  (the  tissue  paper  caps  which  one 
pulled).  They  were  something  quite  new  to  the 
Swedish  children  and  were  hailed  with  delight.  Aud- 
rey had  brought  them  with  her,  in  her  trunk.  They 
were  left  over  from  a  Christmas  party  that  she  and 
Sven  had  given  at  the  hotel.  There  were  just 


The  Castle  Opens  Its  Doors  227 

enough  to  go  around  and  one  left  over,  to  be  sent 
to  Petrus  Wicander  who  was  at  home,  ill  with  a  cold. 

The  fried  chicken  was  done  as  only  Margot  could 
cook  it,  the  chocolate  had  just  the  right  froth,  the 
hot  rolls  and  the  French  fried  potatoes  were  done 
to  a  perfect  shade  of  golden  brown  and  everyone 
did  ample  justice  to  everything.  The  ice  cream  had 
maroons  inside,  and  Fru  Wallman's  cake  was  per- 
fection ! 

What  a  babble  of  voices!  When  they  were  all 
back  again  in  the  great  hall,  Tante  Greta  glanced 
nervously  towards  the  library.  What  would  her 
father  say  to  the  noise?  Everyone  was  laughing  all 
at  once,  everyone  seemed  to  be  joking,  happily  dis- 
puting or  agreeing.  An  amiable  scuffle  went  on  be- 
tween the  younger  Bergstrom  boy  and  his  neighbor 
Olaf  Gustafsson.  Tante  Greta  was  a  little  dazed 
but  greatly  relieved  when  Audrey  suggested  playing 
"Going  to  Jerusalem."  Poor  Tante  Greta,  it  only 
increased  the  noise.  She  was  not  familiar  with  the 
game  and  had  had  no  idea  that  the  fact  of  missing 
or  losing  a  chair  could  cause  so  much  intense  excite- 
ment and  hilarity. 

After  a  while  Audrey  beckoned  to  the  few  of  them 
that  were  to  act  in  the  tableaux  and  they  stole  away. 

"Hjalmar,  do  play  with  them,  you  were  splendid 
with  the  music.  Don't  look  so  glum,  you  can  be  such 
fun,"  whispered  Audrey  as  she  started  upstairs  with 
I.ngeborg,  Valfried  and  Norc. 


228  Midsummer 

"I  don't  be  in  playing  mood,  tonight,  Froken  Aud- 
rey/' Hjalmar  whispered  back. 

"Well,  help  Sven  with  the  curtain.  Domski  can 
help  too.  Put  it  at  the  far  end  of  the  hall,  and  do 
have  grandfather  out  in  plenty  of  time  and  in  the 
very  front  seat,"  she  answered  as  she  ran  up  after 
the  others. 

The  rest  of  the  party  helped  to  fix  the  hall  for  the 
tableaux.  It  was  Domski  who  suggested  it  when 
Hjalmar  asked  him  to  help  them  with  the  curtain. 

uThe  chairs  are  outside  on  the  balcony,  now  let 
us  help  one  and  all.  The  kind  friends  are  doing  this 
for  us,  shall  we  stand  by  and  do  nothing  at  all?" 
Domski  waved  his  hands  in  his  usual  dramatic  way 
and,  in  spite  of  his  poor  humped  back,  looked  quite 
like  a  major  calling  his  army  to  order.  Domski 
wore  his  best  suit  and  a  very  gorgeous  red  silk  tie, 
tied  by  the  artistic  hands  of  his  master  who  had 
seemed  very  excited  and  had  come  with  him  in  the 
boat  quite  to  the  castle  steps. 

So  they  all  moved  the  chairs  inside,  placing  them 
at  Domski's  suggestion. 

The  count  was  to  sit  in  the  carved  armchair,  close 
to  the  front,  Tante  Greta  next  him,  the  others  where 
they  liked.  Astrid  was  a  little  unhappy,  even  though 
Tante  Greta  asked  her  to  sit  next  her.  Thure  Carl- 
son had  not  seemed  at  all  impressed  by  her  doll.  She 
had  brought  her  own  Sophie,  which  her  brother 
Nore  had  sent  to  Stockholm  for.  He  had  saved  part 


The  Castle  Opens  Its  Doors  229 

of  the  berry  money  for  it.  It  was  fun  picking  lingon 
in  September,  she  and  Marta  and  mother  had  done 
most  of  it  because  Nore  had  been  too  busy. 

Astrid  was  unhappy  about  something  else.  They 
had  not  asked  her  to  be  in  the  tableaux.  How  could 
her  beloved  Audrey  have  forgotten  her! 

The  big,  green  velvet  curtain  hid  the  back  of  the 
hall  and  the  children  were  able  to  come  down  the 
tower  stairs,  through  the  door  into  the  hall,  without 
being  seen.  How  slow  they  were !  Why  didn't  they 
hurry?  How  they  giggled!  Astrid  was  really  quite 
disgusted  with  them. 

Suddenly  the  door  of  the  library  was  opened  and 
the  old  count  appeared  on  the  threshold.  Hjalmar 
held  him  firmly  and  guided  his  slow  footsteps  across 
the  hall.  There  was  a  silence.  The  children  were 
awed.  The  old  Count  Essen!  They  had  heard  of 
him,  they  had  even  seen  him  on  his  balcony  in  the 
distance,  but  now  he  was  as  near  to  them  as  could 
be! 

Instinctively  they  stood  up.  The  old  man  glanced 
at  them  from  under  his  bushy  brows.  After  all  he 
was  not  really  as  old  as  they  had  thought.  In  his 
evening  clothes,  with  his  white  hair  smoothly  brushed 
away  from  his  hawk-like  face,  he  still  had  a  certain 
charm.  He  seated  himself  with  difficulty  and  then 
there  was  silence  for  a  moment,  behind  the  curtain. 

The  nine  o'clock  boat  from  Stockholm  put  off  one 
passenger  at  the  castle  landing,  a  short  well-dressed 


230  Midsummer 

man  with  iron-grey  hair  and  a  grey  moustache.  He 
carried  a  suit  case  in  his  gloved  hands.  For  a  mo- 
ment after  the  boat  left,  he  stood  looking  up  at  the 
castle  which  loomed  above  him,  then  he  spied  some- 
one a  little  way  off,  sitting  on  the  rocks,  a  man  whom 
the  cliffs  had  hidden  from  the  boat.  The  newcomer 
went  out  of  his  way  on  his  journey  up  the  rocks, 
because  for  some  reason  that  he  could  not  have  told 
himself,  he  wished  to  speak  to  the  man  who  sat  so 
quietly,  looking  off  at  the  evening  sea. 

It  was  Eugene  and  when  the  newcomer  spoke  to 
him  he  jumped  to  his  feet  in  his  quick  graceful  way. 
Almost  at  once  he  guessed  who  the  stranger  must  be. 

"I've  come  to  see  the  castle  on  the  rocks  and  I 
understood  from  a  conversation  I  had  over  the 
phone  this  morning,  that  there  is  a  party  on  foot!" 
The  American  appearance  and  the  voice !  There 
could  be  no  doubt,  he  was  the  father  of  Audrey  and 
Sven. 

uYou  are  the  parent  then  of  the  two  children?  The 
young  daughter  is  wonderful,  she  has  asked  my  little 
lame  servant  Domski  to  her  party." 

Eugene  smiled  in  his  charming  way  and  perhaps 
the  other  saw  something  wistful  in  the  smile  for  he 
said  quickly: 

"And  are  you  not  invited  too?" 

Eugene  smiled  though  there  was  a  weariness  in 
his  voice  as  he  replied: 

"I  was  once  sent  out  of  the  house  when  here  as 


The  Castle  Opens  Its  Doors  231 

a  visitor,  for  no  fault  except  that  I  was  a  Russian. 
My  coming  into  it  brought  only  trouble  as  you  know, 
for  I  am  sure  that  you  are  Sigried  Essen's  husband." 

Mr.  Bradford  looked  at  Eugene  in  surprise. 

uYou  were  Rudolph's  friend,  you  are  Eugene 
Kamanoff?"  Eugene  nodded. 

In  the  quick  impulsive  way  so  like  Audrey's,  Mr. 
Bradford  took  Eugene's  arm. 

"Come,  I've  an  idea  we  can  slip  in,  unobserved. 
That's  what  I  planned  to  do.  I  want  to  surprise  my 
children  and  see  the  party  from  the  background,  as 
it  were.  Let  us  see  if  the  door  of  the  balcony  is 
unlatched.  Perhaps  we  can  have  a  glimpse  of  them 
without  being  seen  and  no  one  will  know  that  you 
have  been  there."  Even  Eugene's  pride  could  not 
resist  the  idea.  Nore  was  there  in  the  home  of  his 
ancestors,  and  Heaven  help  them  all,  he  did  not 
know  it. 

The  two  men  slipped  in  through  the  door  and 
stood  silently  at  the  back  of  the  room  while  the  cur- 
tain rose  on  the  third  tableaux.  The  hall  had  been 
darkened  a  little  though  a  brilliant  splash  of  light 
swept  in  through  an  opened  curtain. 

The  tableau  was  "The  Soldier's  Good-Bye,"  an- 
nounced in  loud  tones  by  Sven.  It  showed  a  lovely 
young  girl  in  white  and  gold  brocade,  who  stood 
looking  up  at  her  soldier  lover  bending  over  her  as 
she  pinned  a  rose  on  his  coat.  There  was  loud  ap- 
plause for  this,  though  the  more  romantic  were  dis- 


232  Midsummer 

appointed  when  Astrid  announced  in  a  loud  voice: 
"That's  my  brother  and  sister.  Valf ried  didn't  want 
to  have  Bjorn  for  the  lover  but  the  soldier  suit 
wouldn't  fit  any  one  else,  so  they  made  Bjorn  be  the 
lover,  he  didn't  want  to  a  bit!"  Everyone  laughed 
at  this  except  Valfried  and  Bjorn  who  heard  it,  from 
behind  the  curtain. 

The  fourth  tableau  was  the  "Death  of  Charles 
the  Twelfth,"  and  everyone  agreed  that  it  was 
clever.  They  had  found  some  bolts  of  cotton  in  a 
box  in  the  tower  room  and  this  scattered  about  made 
capital  snow.  Sven  was  the  king,  wounded  to  the 
death  and  lying  on  a  stretcher  carried  by  his  faith- 
ful followers,  Nils  and  Bjorn,  while  the  old  shepherd 
in  shabby  coat,  his  head  bowed  over,  the  hat  in  his 
hands,  stands  with  his  little  boy  to  do  honor  to  the 
king,  there  in  the  snowy  mountain  pass.  Audrey  had 
called  the  Bergstrom  boy  in  from  the  hall,  deciding 
it  was  best  not  to  have  Nore  appear  in  the  tableaux 
until  the  last,  and  Astrid  to  her  intense  delight  had 
been  summoned  to  take  Petrus's  place  as  the  little 
boy.  Nils  had  brought  some  of  his  clothes  along 
and  Astrid  made  a  nice  plump  little  boy.  She  was 
not  in  the  least  bit  frightened  which  was  more  than 
could  be  said  of  some  of  the  others.  Sven,  in  the 
shabby  soldier's  uniform,  lay  very  still  with  the 
blood-stained  bandage  about  his  head,  he  did  not 
stir  an  eyelash  even  when  his  grandfather  said: 
"Well  done!" 


The  Castle  Opens  Its  Doors  233 

Tante  Greta  kept  her  eye  upon  him  and  rejoiced 
to  see  how  eager  he  was,  how  his  face  lighted  up  and 
yes,  how  proud  he  was  of  his  grandchild  as  he  lay 
there,  representing  the  brave  hero  king.  Now  and 
then  Greta  glanced  back  towards  the  window  but  her 
nearsighted  eyes  saw  little  in  the  half-darkened 
room.  Tante  Greta  had  received  the  phone  call  that 
morning.  She  indeed  knew  a  surprise  for  Audrey 
and  Sven. 

The  next  picture  was  "The  Goddess  of  Liberty," 
and  one  could  tell  by  the  tone  of  Sven's  voice  that  he 
considered  it  quite  the  best  one  of  the  evening.  Aud- 
rey stood  alone,  showing  her  profile  to  the  audience. 
Her  aunt  had  made  the  soft  draperies  that  she  wore, 
had  made  the  star  that  shone  on  her  forehead  and 
her  eyes  filled  suddenly  with  tears  as  she  gazed  at 
the  earnest  face  of  the  young  girl,  her  little  Amer- 
ican niece. 

The  old  count  applauded  first  of  all  and  Mr.  Brad- 
ford whispered  to  Eugene :  uMy  father-in-law  must 
surely  have  a  change  of  heart  since  he  applauds  the 
Goddess  of  Liberty!"  He  wiped  a  tear  or  two  from 
his  eyes  as  he  spoke. 

The  young  Goddess  was  in  such  a  state  of  excite- 
ment as  she  fastened  the  sword  to  Nore's  belt  that 
she  could  scarcely  speak.  It  was  so  startling,  why 
he  was  the  picture !  Sven  touched  her  arm.  "Look 
here,  Audrey,  Nore  is  so  much  like  that  picture  up 
in  the  tower,  maybe  Tante  Greta  wouldn't  like  us  to 


234  Midsummer 

do  this.  It  might  be  a  shock  to  grandfather,  we 
ought  to  have  thought  of  that  before."  There  was 
great  concern  on  Sven's  honest  face  as  he  confronted 
Audrey,  just  before  the  curtain  went  up.  She  her- 
self was  beginning  to  feel  her  knees  tremble;  for  the 
moment  she,  too,  was  afraid.  Sven  did  not  know, 
could  not  guess,  what  this  might  mean.  She  only 
said  in  a  voice  that  she  tried  to  keep  steady: 
"Announce  the  picture  and  don't  be  stupid." 
"A  Young  Viking  Prince,"  said  Sven  in  a  clear 
voice  and  the  curtain  was  drawn  aside.  There  was 
a  moment's  silence.  A  young  boy  stood  before  them 
dressed  in  a  dull  blue  coat  which  reached  to  the  top 
of  his  high,  tan,  leather  boots.  About  his  shoulders 
was  flung  a  scarlet  mantle;  a  leather  belt,  heavy  with 
jewels,  was  fastened  around  his  waist  and  from  it 
hung  a  jewelled  sword.  On  his  head  was  a  golden 
helmet  and  his  appearance  was  as  a  setting  of  white 
and  gold  in  color,  for  the  hair  that  showed  below 
the  helmet  was  gold  and  the  sensitive  face  was  very 
white.  His  head  was  flung  back,  and  the  sun,  now 
streaming  through  the  stained  glass  window  at 
the  balcony,  made  a  dazzling  glare  of  color 
about  him. 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence  and  then  Hjalmar 
leaned  forward  to  steady  the  old  count  who  had  half 
risen  to  his  feet.  Suddenly  he  gave  a  low  cry  turn- 
ing so  as  to  steady  himself  on  Hjalmar's  arm  and 
looking  up  at  the  figure  of  the  young  boy.  "Hjal- 


The  Castle  Opens  Its  Doors  235 

mar,  Greta,  it  is  Rudolph,"  he  cried.  "It  is 
Rudolph,"  he  said  again.  Then  he  sank  down  into 
his  chair  and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 


CHAPTER  20 
Nore 

AUDREY  always  felt  that  the  rest  of  the  evening  was 
a  dream.  The  children  went  home  almost  at  once 
after  the  last  tableau.  She  had  felt  them  crowd 
around  her  and  she  had  heard  them  tell  her  that  it 
was  the  most  beautiful  and  the  very  j oiliest  party 
they  had  ever  known. 

It  had  all  been  confusion!  Hjalmar  had  led  the 
count  away  and  then  all  at  once  she  saw  him — her 
father !  No  dream  I  Just  his  own,  own  self !  She 
ran  towards  him  across  the  room  and  threw  herself 
into  his  arms  sobbing. 

"Daddy,  daddy,  daddy!"  It  seemed  as  though 
she  could  not  stop  crying,  even  with  those  arms 
around  her.  The  long  day,  the  perplexity,  the  worry 
about  the  tableaux,  then  the  surprise !  She  knew  she 
was  acting  like  a  baby  but  still  she  cried  until  her 
father  said:  "Well,  I've  come  all  this  way  and  is 
this  going  to  be  my  only  reception.  Come  here,  boy," 
holding  out  a  hand  to  Sven  whose  freckled  face  fair- 
ly shone  with  joy.  "I'm  hungry,  I  wonder  if  there 
are  any  crumbs  from  the  rich  man's  table;  let's  go, 
just  we  three  and  see  what  we  can  find  to  eat." 

236 


Nore  237 

Tante  Greta  appeared  from  the  library  and  gave 
her  brother-in-law  a  welcome.  "Nore  is  in  there 
with  father,  and  the  Russian  is  there.  It  was  Hjal- 
mar  who  insisted;  yes,  they  are  there  with  father  and 
I  think  you  must  all  go  in.  I  do  not  know  what  to 
think,  Oh  George,  do  you  know  what  they  say— 
Nore — Nore  Carlson  is  Rudolph's  child.  Hjalmar 
has  always  known!" 

"And  you  never  knew.  Oh  Tante  Greta,  it  was 
because  you  were  always  just  here."  Audrey  choked 
down  a  sob  and  smiled  through  her  tears.  "I  can 
go  in  to  grandfather  now,"  she  said  bravely.  So  the 
three,  with  Tante  Greta,  went  into  the  library.  The 
old  man  sat  in  his  chair  by  the  fire  and  Nore  stood 
opposite  him,  Eugene  near  his  nephew,  and  Hjalmar 
near  the  count.  The  curtains  were  raised  high  and 
the  last  good-bye  of  the  sun  flooded  the  room. 
Across  the  sea  a  boat  was  coming,  a  rowboat.  It 
was  Nore  who  spoke  first  after  Audrey  and  Sven 
came  in  with  their  father. 

The  old  count  held  out  his  hand  to  Mr.  Bradford. 
"I  was  in  the  secret,  Greta  told  me.  You  have  come 
at  a  strange  time,  but  I  am  glad !" 

Nore  glanced  out  of  the  window.  "That  is  Karl, 
the  children  went  home  to  fetch  mother,"  he  spoke 
quietly,  in  fact  he  seemed  the  most  composed  of  any 
of  them.  He  looked  at  old  Hjalmar  and  smiled, 
then  he  turned  to  the  count.  "It  doesn't  seem  as 
though  it  could  be  true,  sir,  but  if  it  is — " 


238  Midsummer 

"There  is  no  doubt/'  Hjalmar  burst  out,  "Oh 
master,  I've  longed  for  this  day,  I  have  been  fairly 
crazed  to  know  what  to  do.  I  always  was  a  thinking 
of,  of  that  scene,  them  awful  days  when  you  was  so 
mad  like.  I  was  waiting  till  the  right  day  came — 
and  so  God  help  her  was  his — was  Fru  Carlson." 
Hjalmar  covered  his  face  with  his  hands  as  he  spoke, 
spoke. 

Nore  came  close  to  the  count.  "You  must  not 
blame  Hjalmar.  He  has  meant  to  do  right  by  us 
all.  He  speaks  truth  when  he  says  he  did  not  know 
what  to  do,  for  he  felt  that  you  would  not  believe 
him." 

Tante  Greta's  voice  broke  in. 

"Don't  you  hear,  father — it  is  Rudolph's  voice." 
Her  own  shook  as  she  spoke  to  the  old  man. 

Count  Essen  reached  out  and  took  the  hand  of  the 
old  servant.  "I  know  that  he  was  only  waiting  for 
the  time  to  speak,  that  he  has  always  wanted  to  do 
right,  by  me  and  mine." 

"The  young  master  whispered  to  Knut  Carlson 
when  he  was  a  dying  —  'Tell  them  when  he  is 
eighteen,'  and  so  did  Knut's  wife  promise  him,  when 
he  too  lay  a  dying."  The  old  man  walked  over  to 
the  door  and  opened  it  for  Fru  Carlson,  she  was 
very  white  and  her  eyes  sought  those  of  Nore.  She 
hardly  seemed  to  see  the  others.  "Yes,  it  was  all 
true,  she  had  the  picture  of  the  young  Russian  girl, 
Eugene's  sister,  the  picture  that  the  young  count  had 


Nore  239 

given  Knut  when  he  was  so  ill.  There  was  no  use 
going  over  it  all — it  was  true.  Nore  was  not  her 
son!" 

Someone  had  left  the  door  open  and  suddenly 
Smorgas  appeared  in  their  midst.  Plump,  confident 
and  quite  at  his  ease,  he  spied  Audrey  and  jumped 
up  into  her  lap. 

Audrey  said  to  Sven  afterwards:  "He  broke  the 
ice/'  She  picked  him  up  and  held  him,  listening 
while  Eugene  told  them  a  little  about  his  life  and 
some  of  the  hopes  he  now  had  for  Nore.  "I  believe 
that  he  will  be  an  artist.  It  is  what  he  longs  to  be 
and  he  shall  have  his  chance.  There  is  money 
enough  to  educate  him  and  the  genius,  if  it  is  there 
— well,  it  will  show  itself.  He  shall  see  Europe,  he 
shall  see  the  art  of  the  world!" 

There  was  tenderness  in  the  look  that  Count  Essen 
gave  to  Nore  as  he  stood  there  listening  to  what 
Eugene  said.  He  turned  and  held  out  his  hand  to 
the  Russians,  as  though  mutely  asking  his  pardon 
for  that  long  ago  hasty  act  of  great  discourtesy! 

Suddenly  Fru  Carlson  stood  up,  clasping  and  un- 
clasping her  hands. 

"Believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  would  have  told 
when  he  was  of  age.  I  would  have  told.  Hjalmar 
knows  that  is  true — if  there  had  ever  been  any  kind 
of  joy  or  human  love  about  this  place  I  would  have 
told  before.  I'm  glad  to  have  him  come  into  his 
own,  glad  with  all  my  heart."  She  caught  her  breath 


240  Midsummer 

and  then  was  silent.     The  old  count  spoke  to  her: 

"I  do  believe  you  and  I  know  the  lad  has  had  the 
very  best  from  you.  You  must  come  here  when  you 
will,  always  you  will  be  welcome." 

"Yes,"  whispered  Tante  Greta.  "Yes,  you  must 
come  always  when  you  will." 

It  was  Nore  who  spoke  then.  He  smiled  first  at 
one  and  then  at  the  other.  He  spoke  gently: 

"Why — you  didn't  think,  you  don't  mean  that  I 
should  leave  mother?"  He  smiled  again  joyously. 
"Never!"  He  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed, 
a  happy  boyish  laugh.  Care  seemed  suddenly  to 
have  fallen  away  from  him,  he  turned  to  his  grand- 
father. "I  hope  we'll  be  good  friends,  grandfather, 
it's  all  hard  to  understand."  Then  he  turned  to 
Eugene.  "Are  you  really  going  to  help  me  to  be  an 
artist?"  he  asked.  "That  is  what  I  want  most.  I've 
talked  of  it  so  often  with  mother.  She  knew  I  would 
always  be  happiest  with  her.  Even  if  she  hadn't 
made  a  promise  she  would  have  told  grandfather 
who  I  was,  when  I  was  of  age,  so  that  he  could  help 
me  to  be  an  artist.  You  see,  she  didn't  know  about 
Uncle  Eugene.  My  mother  is  everything,  I'll  never 
go  away  from  home.  You  didn't  think  I  really 
would,  did  you?"  he  asked  increduously,  looking 
from  one  to  the  other.  "When  I  go  away  to  study 
it  will  only  be  for  a  little  while,  just  until  I  can  have 
a  place  for  mother,  the  right  kind  of  home  for  her 
and  Karl  and  the  girls,  but  most  of  all  for  mother." 


Nore  241 

He  put  his  hand  through  her  ami  and  drew  her  gent- 
ly towards  the  door. 

"We're  all  tired  tonight,  we  shall  talk  some  more 
tomorrow."  He  bowed  in  his  quaint  formal  way  to- 
wards his  grandfather  and  his  aunt  and  then  spoke 
impulsively  to  Audrey:  uOh,  Audrey,  we're  cousins, 
I'm  so  glad,  isn't  it  splendid  !f'  Joy  touched  his  face. 

"Splendid!"  she  answered  joyously.  For  once 
Audrey  was  almost  dumb.  She  could  only  say  that 
one  word — splendid. 

The  others  bade  them  a  quiet  good-night  and  Nore 
went  out  with  the  only  mother  he  had  ever  known. 
Together  they  rowed  across  the  bay. 

Of  course  this  isn't  all,  it's  only  the  beginning.  So 
much  will  happen  to  them  all.  Nore  learning  many 
things,  Audrey  and  Sven  coming  every  summer  to 
the  castle  on  the  rocks.  Nore  and  Marta  and  Val- 
fried  and  Bjorn,  and  yes,  after  some  years,  even 
Ingeborg  and  Nils,  visiting  the  Bradford's  in  New 
York.  As  for  all  that  happened,  whether  or  not 
Nore  did  become  a  great  artist  and  how  life  worked 
things  out  for  all  of  them — ah!  that  I  cannot  tell 
you  now! 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  \\.hich  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


APR  1  8  1956 

APR  1  fi  RECD 

7  PAY  USE 

DORINS 

SUMMER 

SESSIONS 

MAY  1  1  1957 

;      -                       CP 

'  r\uu 

• 

:, 

LD  21-100m-2,'55 
(B139s22)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  78500 


